Kickin' The Willy Bobo With: ERIK FROMME

Derrick Ferguson: Who is Erik Fromme?

Erik Fromme: In the simplest words that I can put together: Erik Fromme is highly critical, highly opinionated and passionate about the things he loves be it his family, work, entertainment or hobbies. Though, family and work tend to take the most of my time at the cost of most other things. Which, I guess, is the way it should be.

DF: Where do you live and what do you tell the IRS you do for a living?

EF: I currently, and pretty much have always, live in Buffalo, NY. Yes, that means I’m cursed to support sports teams that have done very little to earn that support in recent decades, but it is what it is.

As far as what the IRS needs to know about how I earn an income I would say that I’m a drafter for a Mechanical Contractor. What does that mean? Well, I basically design either process systems for Industrial facilities like 3M - you know, the place that made the sponge you use to clean your dishes with - or Praxair for liquid gases. Other times it’s for heating and cooling systems for Schools, Hospitals or other Commercial buildings. I mostly work in pipe, but I’ve recently expanded my talents into sheet metal.

As far as what I don’t tell the IRS I do to earn an income... Well, if I tell you I’d have to kill you. And I do know where you live.

DF: What writers have influenced you?

EF: Truthfully, I don’t have a good answer for that. I guess I could say that - looking back on it - I can point to authors like Peter David as being an influence, but that’s because I’ve been exposed to his work throughout all of my likes from Star Trek to comics. When I grew up I never paid attention to whose work I was reading as I cared about what I was reading, and whether it fit into what I liked. It was simply just about the story. Where the characters acting like the characters I knew? Was the universe the universe I knew? When it came to those works, I knew that authors changed every book or every few arcs so I never got attached to anybody in particular. Their names weren’t likely to draw me to other works.

Sure, in hindsight, it was probably a shitty way to deal with it, but I didn’t care as I didn’t know better. I was never that hardcore a fan. I never took it that seriously. Over the past few years, I’ve learned that quality tends to follow quality authors. Author’s like PJ Parrish whose detective novels really showed me how to structure a mystery over the long play. Not just how to develop clues, but to build them into the structure of the story to when these clues came up later as the story unfolded it was organic and not alien to the story as an afterthought or leap in logic. I was forced to think about the story as a whole and what I wanted from it.

I will go back to Peter David who has penned over dozens of titles and has managed to give individual voices to the many characters he’s either created or taken over in his time. To be able to get into the various mindsets of all those different people and understand their motivations is a strong skill to have and to do that in all of the landscapes is a very strong skill to have.

DF: Let’s get right to it: why Fan Fiction?

EF: Well, Fan Fiction was the natural evolution of the PBeM’s I was playing at the time. 13 years ago, RPG’s were all the rage. But, building on pieces of a story as they sporadically dropped into my e-mail started getting tedious with the one or two paragraphs I was responsible for at a time when all I had to work with was a lame three sentences from somebody who wasn’t putting in the effort I was. When I was presented this new option, I liked the appeal of building whole stories directly from my own mind with just my own input. It forced me to consider new factors I hadn’t before like ensemble casts and how to juggle them all. I was responsible for me and the freedom I had with that responsibility couldn’t be equaled.

The easy part to that answer is: the world was already there - in this case being Marvel - and I’ve been reading comics for years so my mind already occupied that space. I knew these characters and their universe. All I needed to do was move them like pieces in chess and focus more purely on story structure and I could let the character development follow. I guess part two to that answer was the collaboration. I didn’t have to explain my world to somebody for them to get it. It was already gotten. So the world building - which I love the most - could start immediately.

DF: How long have you been involved with Fan Fiction?

EF: I started with Marvel Anthology in ’00. It was a very young site with a handful of titles and a lot more available for proposals including the one I was interested in the most: Daredevil. Since then I’ve developed a few more titles across a few more sites, and morphed into the role of EiC for both Marvel and DC Anthology and have been in that position for about 12 years now.

DF: How long has DC Anthology and Marvel Anthology been around?

EF: Marvel Anthology started in April of ’00 and DC Anthology was launched in October of ’01. I’ve been affiliated with both sites for pretty much their entire existence. There have been some sketchy moments when I doubted the longevity of the sites, when production slowed to almost nothing or when I thought the bottom would drop out as people realized that they’re writing ‘fanfic’ and could ‘do better’. But, I’ve been blessed with some very bright and dedicated authors who wouldn’t let either site die. And right now - even through various purges and reboots - both sites boast a combined number of over 1,000 issues.

DF: What are the goals of DC Anthology and Marvel Anthology?

EF: They should be the same goal as anybody else who wants their stuff read: to put forth entertaining and quality stories that builds a cohesive world. That’s the simplest answer I can come up with. We want to be good. Which, knowing the slams that go around when people see shitty pro work and goes ‘that reads like bad fanfic’, might sound ridiculous when applied to fanfic, but I take what we write serious. Otherwise, why do it?

DF: Why should we be reading DC Anthology and Marvel Anthology?

EF: Because we have some really talented authors working for us who deserve to be read. Everybody treats their title and genre inside the universe - like horror or sci-fi titles - with genuine effort. Characters, personalities, relationships and story structure all get attention. And I like to think that DCA and MA offer a bit of a community feel. That these stories don’t just exist inside a vacuum to each other, but that you can tell the authors collaborate to not just strengthen their own books, but each other’s and they show that by crossing over with their titles and building little interconnecting circles that flow from title to title. Despite, obviously, not being paid professionals we all act like we are. These are all characters we love and it would be a disservice to treat them without respect simply because we’re ‘fanfic’.

DF: One of the criticisms about Fan Fiction is that it’s either poorly edited or not edited at all. Your response?

EF: Considering the amount of shitty Fan Fiction out there I almost can’t blame that perception, but when it comes to the Anthology’s - and a few other sites out there inside the community - that couldn’t be farther from the truth. We have a serious of checks that are in place to help insure quality. Firstly, every title on site starts with a proposal that is examined by - at our site - about a half dozen people. Any concerns that are raised in that process get addressed with the proposer and, hopefully, swiftly taken care of to help keep the acceptance process quick. It then gets voted on and it has to have a majority vote before it’s accepted.

When it comes to our monthly releases our editor has a rather thankless job of proofing every single issue before it gets posted to the site. Every issue gets checked for grammar, continuity errors or other concerns that might be raised in the story around the characters and what we might feel be a detriment to the story. Sure, we’re not perfect but we do our best to ensure that any potential reader that stumbles upon us wants to come back, or better yet, spend some of their time offering feedback on things they like and don’t like so we know how to be better.

DF: Detractors of Fan Fiction will claim that those who write it are wasting their time they could be better using to write original stories. What do you say to them?

EF: They might be right, and there have certainly been a lot of people in our immediate community who have moved on from Fan Fiction to pursue professional careers to the detriment of fanfic. But, for me Fan Fiction is writing for the sake of writing. It’s pure. It just is what it is: an exercise in bettering my talent and have fun doing it. Maybe it’s a cop-out on my end for not pursuing a shot to be published and not deal with the hassle that comes from it and if I did who knows, maybe I could be good at it but for me personally I like the built in knowledge that comes with Fan Fiction because you’re working with like minded people. They’re all there to share the same goal. When it comes to world-building, you don’t have to hold back ideas for fear of infringement and you don’t have to explain your work in detail for somebody to get it before you develop new ideas with them.

At the end of the day, I just like to write. I don’t need an agenda or a paycheck to motivate me. And I applaud and have given as much support as I can to my friends who have pursued a professional career. Sure, part of me might feel a little jealous of them being a professional, but I’m also jealous of the fact that I’ll never be called ‘doctor’ or ‘astronaut’ or ‘archaeologist’ as I love space and history too.

And when it comes to wasting my time I know that, ultimately, I’d rather waste my time writing if for nothing but to write than watch shitty reality tv show. If some asshole can watch ‘American Idol’ and yet point the finger at me for wasting my talent and being creative then who’s the one really wasting their time?

DF: Tell us about some of your writers. What is their motivation for writing Fan Fiction?

EF: If I had to judge their motivation for writing Fan Fiction then it would be for one thing: to tell a story about the characters they love. That maybe they want to do more with Superman than just read about him. The secondary motivation would be to share that with somebody else who loves it just the same. It’s fun.

DF: What’s the best advice you can give someone who wants to write Fan Fiction?

EF: To: Just Do It. And, no, I paid Nike no royalties for that slogan. Who gives a damn? Maybe it’s silly to somebody else, but I don’t think so.

DF: Since you’re involved with Marvel and DC Fan Fiction it can be safely assumed you’re a DC and Marvel fan?

EF: Yes. Comics were part of what introduced me to serialized story telling. Beyond that, I liked how it challenged everything. It wasn’t just GI* Joe or the A-Team doing neat things with guns, it was guys flying unprotected through space, performing incredible feats of physicality that would put most people in the hospital. It allowed for anything to be possible and it was exciting to see where a story without any real limits could go. ‘Guardian’s of the Galaxy’ - the new one that the movie will be based on - is a perfect example of that.

DF: What’s your opinion of DC and Marvel these days?

EF: I would guess its pretty low. Frankly, I haven’t read much of either just because I don’t have the money to spend on them. When I did I got very tired of the constant string of events that Marvel and DC forced themselves in. Every event was sure to ‘change things forever’ and it just got boring. There were few books that just told a story that didn’t have to blow up 9 planets and kill about 437 people to be ‘awesome’.

DF: Is Fan Fiction a viable alternative for those readers dissatisfied with DC and Marvel?

EF: I would say both ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Sure, we’ve all asked ourselves ‘How could I do that better?’ or ‘If I did that, I bet I would have done that this way?’ and Fan Fiction can be an answer to that question. But, if you’re there to just do DC and Marvel better than DC and Marvel then I’d think you’d run out of excitement quick because you’re not telling your own story. You’re re-hashing somebody else’s for your own satisfaction. I’d rather people come to the Anthology’s to tell a story that they’ve always wanted to read themselves, but was never written until they did it.

DF: Why not just write original superhero fiction?

EF: Maybe someday I might. I just haven’t had that strike of inspiration on an idea that really pushed its way out of my head. I’ve thought about it, but have always dropped back on Fan Fiction to scratch that itch. Maybe I find it safe. Maybe I just find things too derivative to be happy with it.

DF: Do you yourself have any aspirations for professional writing or editing?

EF: Given my position at the Anthologies I’ve been doing a lot more editing than writing lately with coordinating groups of titles together, helping flesh out ideas that authors come to me with and applying my own touches to those books with direction - when asked - to help maintain a certain vision and direction for the site as a whole. I do genuinely enjoy building whole universes.

DF: Do you enjoy editing more or writing?

EF: I enjoy writing more than editing, which might sound contradictory to the previous question. I do editing to help the health of the site as a whole, but writing allows me to creative for my own ego. I get to toss down my own ideas and build them as I see them without loaning them out for others to develop.

DF: What’s a typical Day In The Life of Erik Fromme like?

EF: Typically, I wake up every Monday thru Friday at 6:00 am and get to work by 7:00 am where I’m expected to do my duty and deal with about 30 interruptions in that day. Which, is pretty much like day at home when I roll in at about 4:30. I don’t get much time to myself and the things I wish to do as my children demand pretty much every waking moment. I’ve got about 20 or so different projects around the house to do: kitchen renovations, basement renovations, landscaping and what not that also demand my time.

Derrick Ferguson: Anything else we should know about Erik Fromme?

Erik Fromme: Not really, I would think everything about me is spelled out here. I appreciate the time everybody spent reading this and not closing it out after the 3rd question. And I especially appreciate Derrick’s thought for wanting to interview me for his blog. I’m always fascinated when somebody thinks they need my opinion, but I’m clearly not opposed to giving it.

A Little About Me From A to Z

A=Age: 55

B=Bed Size: King

C=Chore I Hate: I actually like doing chores. While I’m doing them I’m thinking about what I’m going to write next time I sit down at the computer. This way there’s no time wasted staring at the screen wondering what I’m going to write.

D=Domestic Animal Names: N/A

E=Essential Start To My Day: Coffee. A lot of it.

F=Favorite Color: Red

G=Gold or Silver: Gold

H=Height: 6 ft 4in.

I=Instruments I Play: None

J=Job Title: Writer (I guess…some days I’m just not sure)

K=Kisses or Hugs: Kisses

L=Living Arraignments: Three family house. My wife and I live on the first floor & basement and we rent out the other two apartments.

M=Mood: Surly on the best of days.

N=Nicknames: Ferg, Fergie, Big D, D Nice, Tummy Boy, Ol’ Hot Chocolate

O=Overnight Hospital Stays: Lemme see…as a kid I had my tonsils and adenoids removed and as an adult I had two pulmonary embolisms that caused me to stay in the hospital for about a week each time.

P=Pet Peeves: Any unnecessary noise and people who are proud of their ignorance.

Q=Quote From A Movie: “So let it be written, so let it be done” from ‘The Ten Commandments’

R=Right or Left Handed: Right

S=Siblings: Two sisters, Valarie and Jan

T=Time I Wake Up: Usually between 8 and 9AM.

U=Underwear: Yes

V=Vegetable I dislike: Okra

W=Ways I Run Late: Generally I’m not late because I hate to feel rushed or be rushed so I allow myself plenty of time to get where I’m going.

X=X-Rays I’ve Had: My chest has been X-rayed more times than I can count.

Y=Yummy Food I Make: I’ve been told that my cheeseburgers are pretty damn yummy.

Z=Zoo Favorites: Tie between the elephants and panda bears.

From the "Victory Lap - The End of the Big Project" File...

Since this is my blog you’re used to me running off at the mouth in this space here that I’ve carved out for my thoughts and updates and news on my projects. But this time I’m turning it over to Sean E. Ali. He’s the extraordinarily talented cover designer for Pro Se Press and the genius behind so many of their covers that readers and fans of Pro Se have salivated over. He also did the artwork and designed the cover for “Dillon And The Pirates of Xonira.” He’s wonderful at his job and his latest project is yet another important milestone in his career.

But it’s also important to Sean in a very personal way and I thought it was only fitting that he be allowed space here to express how important this project is to him. He originally posted it on his Facebook page but it’s so heartfelt and so touching I felt compelled to re-post it here along with the front and back cover of BLACK PULP so that it will hopefully be seen by a wider audience and not lost in an avalanche of FB posts that come after it.

And I think I’ve spoken quite enough. Mr. Ali, the floor is yours…

Now that it's done, I can talk about the latest project I've done for Pro Se, BLACK PULP.

In advance this is more of an op ed thing that's just for me. You're not obligated to read it.

To give you the highlights BLACK PULP is a volume of fiction being published by Pro Se Press which features stories with an African American focus and features stories by : Joe R. Lansdale, Gary Phillips, Charles R. Saunders, Derrick Ferguson, D. Alan Lewis, Christopher Chambers, Mel Odom, Kimberly Richardson, Ron Fortier, Michael A. Gonzales, Gar Anthony Haywood, Tommy Hancock and features an introduction by WALTER MOSLEY!

Yeah "Devil In A Blue Dress - Denzel was in the movie version" Walter Mosley…

Which made this the biggest damn deal name wise this side of Barry Reese's Rook as our first major licensed property. So that's the short version, you want to slog through the longer part below, think of it as the unofficial afterword for BLACK PULP from my point of view…

Here endth the disclaimer.

Some time ago, long before the vast majority of us were born, the public entertained itself with cheaply produced fiction magazines called pulps, that pretty much took them from the Great Depression and the prospect of a second World War into hidden civilizations, steamy underworlds where masked vigilantes dealt out two-fisted justice and literally hundreds of other variations on genres that explored fantastic situations populated by extraordinary people.

It was an amazing time in popular culture. Literally, people were on the verge of the first real wave of mass produced popular media. It was entertainment and escape packaged behind luridly illustrated covers that beckoned to its potential audience with a promise of a story that you'd lose yourself in and, while it wouldn't solve your immediate problems, you'd be satisfied knowing that your heroes came through for you and made their corner of the fictional universe safe for all until your next visit. The best part? You had heroes who were usually from the people, they were special, but for the most part, they were just like you...

Or at least that's how it was for the vast majority of the population.

In most of the minority communities, the representation of race in those early days of the 1930s, 40s and into the 1950s was less than flattering. Given the times and the publisher, African Americans, or (for the sake of accuracy) let's go with the more diplomatic terminology of the day using either Negros or Colored People, found themselves represented in most media of the day as slow witted or under educated clowns and buffoons - caricatures which were holdovers from the old minstrel shows where bugged out eyes, incredibly huge lips and flaring nostrils were pretty much the standard and actually kinder than the bone through the nose, grass skirt wearing variation or the stooped over monkey/ape variant (that still enjoys a certain amount of favor among some classes of the ignorant, bigots and racists today). The surge of graphic entertainment with the emergence of comic books in general and superheroes in particular turned those stereotypes into standard fare for readers, projecting perhaps some of the views of the creators involved as well as reflecting society's view of race at that time.

The one major possible exception may have been in the pages of a particular pulp that clamored for attention on the newsstands.

One of the best examples of diversity from that time in pulp fiction was an organization called Justice, Incorporated. The group was fronted by a swashbuckling adventurer in the form of Richard Benson, known to the public-at-large as the Avenger. He formed a group of like minded individuals in a war against crime which included a Negro couple, Josh and Rosabelle Newton, who were both accomplished academics with college degrees (from Tuskegee Institute, now University) who actually used the stereotypes of their race to infiltrate the underworld and relay information and assistance to their chief as the story needed them. If Benson hadn't shown up in their lives, they probably would've continued on with their lives after their initial appearance in "The Sky Walker", but thankfully someone in the editing department didn't have an issue with the Newtons coming on board as a part of the team. 

Justice, Incorporated was unique even among the pulp hero set, with the possible exception of Diamondstone the Magician who had a Negro sidekick, in giving these two not only equal status, but one that ran counter to the current perception of race at that time. The Shadow had a guy in the ranks of his agents, and while Doc Savage didn't have a Negro cast member, he was generally respectful of the ones he encountered along the way. Josh and Rosabelle were about as close as I got to an African American version of Nick and Nora Charles in detective fiction, or Jonathan and Jennifer Hart from TV's Hart to Hart.

Which is around where I came in.

As a kid I literally went on safari every weekend in used book stores. In downtown Oakland near 14th and Harrison there was this huge used bookstore, which has long since gone away (to this day one of the biggest losses from my childhood), where I had my first encounter with the like of Conan, Doc Savage, The Shadow and The Avenger and Justice, Inc. All of these heroes were caught in a distilled reprinted form and repackaged as paperbacks. I would fill my weekends with these guys who were an extension of the comics I read then and the old time radio shows that I would encounter in the near future and had a fondness for the Avenger in particular because of the diversity of the group and the respect they showed one another despite their different backgrounds.

For the time that the stories were originally written, the Avenger was pretty progressive stuff. In the context of a child growing up in the near post Civil Rights era, it was a good thing to see heroes who looked like me even if they were supporting characters, contributing to the solution of the crisis and serving in a capacity that spoke of their intelligence and their ability to take the limitations tossed upon them based on their race and turn that to an advantage. They basically were a preview of the world to come, in a series that was ahead of its time. So, I went in search of other characters from that time because there had to be a "Negro Pulp Adventurer" series where people who looked like me were actually the lead characters and not just assistants or comedy relief, right?

Wrong.

Okay, maybe more of a "not really".

The closest thing to an African American, Negro pulp magazine at that time was probably more like a version of Reader's Digest called the Negro Digest. Created by John Harold Johnson, founder of the Johnson Publishing Company (who publishes the magazines Ebony and Jet, among others), put together a magazine with a focus on information, opinion editorials, and artistic content relevent to the Negro community but solicited from a diverse number of contributors regardless of race. In fact a column called "If I Were A Negro", where prominent non Negro guest writers were invited to offer opinions and solutions to racial issues of the day led to the magazine's high note with a piece from then First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt which doubled the magazine's circulation overnight. But for me as a kid reading adventure fiction it wasn't quite the same thing as locating a "Black Doc Savage". There wasn't a hero to call my own from that era of pulp adventure outside of glorified sidekicks.

Granted, away from pulps, I came up during a time of great fictional Black heroes. A byproduct of the militant era, mixed with a healthy (or unhealthy) dash of Blaxploitation media, I had heroes in my day by the score, Shaft, Luke Cage Power Man, Black Panther, Storm of the X-Men, Cyborg, Green Lantern - John Stewart, and my personal favorite: Black Lightning. I also saw a surge of multiethnic characters that culminated in a whole comic book universe as the one bright shining moment in comics that I called "The Milestone Era".

Milestone, with the late great Dwayne McDuffie leading the charge, walked the walk on the page and behind the scenes. Their characters were bold brilliant and multi-everything. I had Black heroes, Latino heroes, Asian heroes and even some White heroes. It was everything I wanted to see in fiction in graphic form, in the media content I digested, in examples to my nephews and nieces of four color warriors who leapt tall buildings and saved the day and were accepted for the content of their character more than anything else. 

It was also an era that came to an end pretty quickly with the usual excuses of not having the readership or using the fact that a book where a minority lead was the title character just wouldn't sell. Which killed brilliant titles like Icon, Static, Hardware, Xombi, The Shadow Cabinet and the Blood Syndicate in Milestone and books outside of Milestone like Black Lightning or El Diablo (the series about a Latino City Councilman who wears a mask to fight crime but also deals with racial identity, political intrigue and illegal immigration that ran just under a year and a half) at DC or the brilliant, but barely seen in the mainstream, independent series, Brotherman. All of these being series that I recommend highly if you ever decide to go on an excursion to a comics shop and dive into a quarter bin or seek online at sites like Mile High Comics.

"Hey that's great, Ali," you say, "but what does this have to do with this BLACK PULP book?"

The answer is everything and nothing.

BLACK PULP is the fulfillment of personal dreams and goals that I set out to do "as a young designer more years than I want to remember" ago, which was to make a positive contribution at some point to the body of work displayed by creators that created what I playfully refer to as "content of color". In this book are a lot of creators whose work I've admired over the years: Walter Mosley, Ron Fortier, Joe Lansdale, Gary Phillips, Charles Saunders and Derrick Ferguson, and they are in this volume doing pieces that are not necessarily racial in content, but they have African American leads carrying the action and plot of these short stories. They're retroactively giving nine and ten year old me what I had been looking for then:positive examples of people who look like me, making their neck of their fictional worlds a better place by being who they are.

Granted this book is not going to change society at large in any noticeable way, shape or form. We won't read BLACK PULP today and wake up tomorrow joining hands singing "We Are The World", but I'm hoping you'll read it for the stories and enjoy it enough that you won't opposed to a Black Pulp 2 or a volume with an Asian focus, or a Latino focus, or a Female focus, or an LBGT focus, or a volume where all diversity in our culture is the focus, there's such a wide field of themes and subjects to be explored. It's my hope that this book will take you off your beaten track and make you curious about the possibilities we have yet to tap into, the richness of the larger diversity creative individuals can bring to you. 

In a very real way, this diverse group of writers are providing an example of that with characters of color, yes, but they're also characters with content, complexity with compelling stories to tell. The efforts of this group of authors, and the personal weight of being a kid who didn't have those kind of heroes readily available to him, fueled my own efforts in the design of the book to make sure that a person looking for a hero in the mirror would find one.

It's my hope that reading BLACK PULP will make you hungry for heroes that look like you and more importantly that you find the imagination and will to create those heroes if none exist. And that in doing so, you not only give yourself something to look up to, but by sharing that perspective, you contribute to the greater appreciation of our greater diversity by everyone. Yeah it's a little "We Are The World"-ish, but at least it has the virtue of being a sincere hope.

I appreciate what Tommy Hancock has brought to the table here. I'm thrilled that Gary Phillips put the concept together and I'm impressed that such a wonderful array of talent came together in response to it all. And more importantly, I'm lucky to have been a part of bringing it to you. It's on my short list of works I'm really proud of. I hope it shows in the package we've put together.

And a shout out in particular to Derrick Ferguson who was my silent co-pilot on this one. his input during the creative process on this one was invaluable and appreciated.

BLACK PULP is here.  Be sure to check it out.

And more importantly, enjoy it.

What Do I Think Goes Into Making Characters Interesting?

Since I started this boulder rolling downhill with talking about how I create my characters I figured I’d keep right on going a talk for a bit about what I think goes into making characters interesting and how I do it. As always, feel free to steal any of this you think will help and anything you think is bullshit, keep it to yourself. Okay? Okay. Have a seat and we’ll jaw jack for a bit.

For me, a story begins and ends with character. If the characters aren't interesting and if what they're doing doesn't interest me I don't care how mind-blowing the ideas behind the story is. There are writers who can pull off an idea driven story and I've read many of those over the years but as a rule, those types of stories don't put the sugar in my coffee. I'm more drawn to character driven stories.

And the characters don't have to be likable  In fact, I'm more intrigued when a writer can present me with an unlikable character and during the course of the story I grow to sympathize with him or her. My DIAMONDBACK novel; “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time” was partially an exercise to see if I could write a novel length story where 99% percent of the characters were backstabbing, unrepentant cold-blooded bastards (especially the lead character) and still make them compelling characters you wanted to know more about and find out what happens to them.

That's why most of the time when you start to read a story of mine, I'll open with the character doing whatever it is he does best. Dillon is a globetrotting adventurer so I'll usually start a story with him in the middle of an adventure. If I write a story where a murderer is the lead character, I'll start with him murdering somebody. For me, nothing gets you into a character faster than showing him or her doing whatever it is they do. And I can do that because before I sit down to write I know the lead character so well that a lot of the indecision about what they would do in a given situation is gone. And I sincerely believe you have to know your characters well before you sit down to write and you have to care about them one way or another because as a writer you're the first audience for your story and if it's not interesting and exciting to you then why should it excite or interest a reader?

But all this felgercarb isn't getting into the meat of what you want to hear: what I think makes a good fictional character. Okay, here we go:

First of all, the character has to be interesting enough for me to want to care about what happens to him and since I'm a picky son of a bitch, you don't have a lot of time to make me care. Six pages of description about the main character lying in bed watching the dust motes in the brilliant yellow morning sunshine is going to make me throw the book on my desk and go upstairs to watch "The Walking Dead” or "Arrow"

The character has to do things that are believable in the context of the world and situation he's placed in. In my Dillon stories I have the character do things that would be outrageous in Real Life but in the context of the world I've created for him, which is a pulp action/adventure world that is larger than life than ours, what he does is plausible. It also helps if the writer can convey his story in an entertaining manner that doesn't make me wish I was reading 'Silas Marner'.

How about raising the emotional stakes for a character? There's a lot of ways to do it but the one I like is that I take away the choices my main character has until there's no course left to him but one.

Take DILLON AND THE VOICE OF ODIN for example: when the story starts, Dillon has a lot of choices and a lot of ways to go. During the course of the story he's saddled with a young woman who's safety he becomes responsible for, he's hunted by the bad guys and midway through the book, even the good guys are after him. He's cut off from his friends and he's got nothing but a howling pack of enemies chasing him hinter and yon.

Each and every one of those points named above represents a choice Dillon has to make. Sure, he doesn't have to take care of Kris Quinlan but he decides to. And that means he not only has to look after his own life but hers as well. Sure, he could cut a deal with the bad guys for the opal ring that is the book's MacGuffin but if the bad guys get it a lot of innocent people will die. And as we see later on in the novel Dillon has seen more than his share of innocents die. And based on that past experience he makes another choice. One that sends him on the run across Europe. Later on he makes another choice that has him pursued by Her Majesty's Secret Service who send their best gunslingers after him. And so he has to run again. In fact, even though Dillon's our hero he spends 75% of the book running from everybody until he has no choice left but to cut a deal and go after The Big Bad of the story to save his own ass and the world's.

But it took me 75% of the book to get Dillon to that point where a reader would nod his head and say; "Yeah, I can see why he's got no choice but to go after Odin." And that's because gradually I took away every chance he had to walk away from the whole bloody business and he was left with only one: to go after the bad guy.

That's how I like to do it, anyway. My thing with writing is motivation: if you don't give me a good solid reason for why your characters are doing what they're doing, you've lost me. That's why I consider 90% of horror movies comedies because you'd have to be a brain dead idiot to do what people in horror movies do and I try my best to stay away from brain dead idiots. And I try not to write about brain dead idiots. Well, only on purpose, anyway.

So that's how I like to raise the emotional stake for my characters: I like taking away the choices they have. The more choices I take away from them, the more pressure they're under and the more conflict and tension is generated in the story itself among the characters.

That's all I've got for now. Thanks for stopping by and keeping me company for a bit. Come on back by soon, okay?

How I Create My Characters (For Better or For Worse)

First off, I don't think any writer sits down saying: "Today I am going to create a memorable character." Any more than he can sit down and say "Today I am going to write a memorable novel." Only the kindness of readers and the passage of time can judge the memorability of a writer's work.

When I set out to create characters I do according to whatever type of story it is I'm writing at the time and I tend to build them the same way whether it's my supernatural western gunslinger Sebastian Red or my family man superspy Jackson Rush or the enigmatic urban hitman Diamondback Vogel. I dig out my Character Profile which contains about 30 questions dealing with that character's background, where and when he was born, his parents, where he was schooled, what he likes to eat, his sexual preferences and a whole bunch of other stuff that may not seem important but to me it is.

By the time I'm finished filling out The Character Profile I've got 12 to 15 pages of solid information about the character I'm dealing with. Information that gives me a powerful tool since I don't have to stop and wonder how that character would act in a certain situation. How much of this information actually finds its way into the actual body of the story? Not as much as you might think. But that's not what's important to me. If there's no reason in the story why you should know who Jackson Rush lost his virginity to at age 18 then why should I tell you? But I know and in my mind it gives the character weight. He's not just a vague shadow I'm pushing around at my whim. By the time I've finished The Character Profile hopefully he's taken on his own life and begun talking to me, relating events that have happened to him that I'm just recording. That's when I know that I've created an actual character and not just a blow up figure.

Should you do a Character Profile? I dunno. I'm a big believer in every writer finding his own best way of working. What works for me may not work for you. But I find it almost impossible to start writing a story without knowing my main character inside and out. Once I know that, everything clicks into place with little difficulty. I wrote the Dillon novels with just a few scenes and vague ideas of how I was going to piece them together but since I know Dillon as well (in some cases better than) as members of my own family, I trusted him to fill in the spaces and he did in spectacular fashion. I just relaxed and let him tell me how the story went. 

You may think I'm bullshitting you but it's true: whenever I sit down to write Dillon it seems as if he's just dropped off notes about what he's been doing lately and I'm just transcribing them. But maybe you don't want to or don't need to do all that. It's up to you to find what works your machinery and gets it humming.

How about supporting characters? Do I do a Character Profile for them? Depends. If they're major supporting characters like Dillon's partner Eli Creed or Diamondback's rival Nickleby LaLoosh, yeah. For other characters I do an abbreviated CP of anywhere from five to ten questions and for minor characters I don't even bother.

And even doing all that work on that character won't guarantee that they'll be memorable or even interesting. Take a look at Diamondback Vogel for instance. After I spent about two solid weeks of work on all the main characters I felt especially proud of the work I had done on him and thought he'd be well received. Hah. Turns out that two supporting characters, Toulon and Nickleby LaLoosh were more popular than Diamondback. And during the course of writing the first Diamondback novel, I had to change the ending since Nickleby LaLoosh took over and absolutely refused to nicely die at the end like he was supposed to. You see, by then he had started talking to me about what he wanted to do and like an idiot I listened.

But it's all good. That's part of the fun of writing and why I don't write detailed outlines and get myself locked into solid ideas of what has to happen in Chapter 11 and if it doesn't, I chisel it into shape. It's much more fun when the characters start taking an active part in their own story and arguing with me as to what they'd like to see and the story grows organically as I discover new things about the characters and they surprise and amaze me with what they do.

And if you’re still interested, here’s the questions I use for my Character Profile:

Master Character Profile For:

Name:

Age:

Height:

Country/Place of Birth:

Nationality:

Weight/Build:

Color Hair/Eyes:

Educational Background:

Sexuality:

Family:

Martial Status:

Ambition In Life:

Strongest Character Trait:

Weakest Character Trait:

Bad Habits:

General Characteristics:

Mental Characteristics:

Physical Characteristics:

Philosophy:

Religion:

Politics:

Hobbies:

Special Skills:

Current Lifestyle:

Profession/Jobs:

Relationships:

What Others Notice About Him/Her First:

Paraphanalia/Equipment/Weapons:

Fighting Skills:

Strength:

Agility/Reflexes:

Stamina/Endurance:

Black Pulp

Publisher Announces BLACK PULP Collection

Featuring Best Selling Authors

Batesville, AR – 1/26/2013 – Pro Se Productions, a publisher of Genre Fiction, works to not only harken back to the classic fiction of Pulp magazines and adventure tales, but also to push the boundaries of modern Genre fiction in many directions. To that end, Pro Se Productions reveals a new anthology to be released in early 2013, a collection featuring the work of various authors, including bestsellers Walter Mosley and Joe R. Lansdale.

Black Pulp is a collection of stories featuring African characters in leading roles in stories running the genre gamut. Pulp Fiction of the early 20th Century rarely, if ever, focused on characters of color and the handful of black characters in these stories were typically portrayed as racial stereotypes. Black Pulp, a concept developed by noted crime novelist Gary Phillips, brings some of today’s best authors together with up and coming writers to craft adventure tales, mysteries, and more, all with black characters at the forefront.

Also co-editor of Black Pulp, Phillips observed, “While revisionism is not history, as Django Unchained signifies, nonetheless historical matters find their way into popular fiction. This is certainly the case with new pulp as it handles such issues as race with a modern take, even though stories can be set in a retro context. Black Pulp then offers exciting tales of derring-do and clear-eyed heroes and heroines of darker hues appealing to all.”

Black Pulp features a new original essay on the nature of Pulp, both classic and modern, by award winning author Walter Mosley. Known for his bestselling Easy Rawlins novel series as well as books featuring Private Eye Leonid McGill, Mosley is widely published in fiction, both literary and genre, and non-fiction. Mosley has received several honors, including a Grammy, PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and an O. Henry award.

Also featured in the anthology is a classic story by Joe R. Lansdale. Lansdale is not unfamiliar to Pulp, having written such notable characters as Tarzan as well many of his own original creations, including Hap & Leonard. Winner of the Edgar Award, multiple Bram Stoker Awards, The Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award and many others, Lansdale’s story provides his own take on Black Pulp.

Other contributing writers include Chester Himes Award winner Phillips, two time Shamus Award winner Gar Anthony Heywood, noted author Kimberly Richardson who currently has two works enlisted for Pulitzer Prize nomination, Dixon Medal winner Christopher Chambers, critically acclaimed novelist Mel Odom, hip-hop chronicler Michael Gonzales, Pulp Factory and Pulp Ark Award winner Ron Fortier, Pulp Factory Award winner Charles Saunders, Pulp Ark Award winners Derrick Ferguson and Tommy Hancock(also Publisher co-editor of Black Pulp), and noted writers Michael Gonzales and Alan D. Lewis.

Black Pulp is slated for print and digital release in early 2013 and features an original cover by Adam Shaw. For more information concerning Black Pulp and Pro Se Productions, contact proseproductions@earthlink.net.

Kickin' The Willy Bobo With: NANCY HANSEN

Derrick Ferguson: Who is Nancy Hansen?

Nancy Hansen: That’s a tough question to answer simply because I’m a lot of different things all rolled into one messy package. I’m a wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. I live on an old farm out in the country. I’m a writer, editor, avid reader, gardener, crafter, amateur naturalist. I like to haunt flea markets, thrift shops, and yard sales looking for more things to clutter my house. I have a lifelong fascination with pre-industrial culture, mythology, and the occult. I love dogs and cats, kids, and all kinds of interesting little critters with fur, feathers, and scales. I can hold a tune and bang on a 12 string guitar. I cook, and my cookie baking is legendary around these parts. I have waaaay too much yarn and not enough time to crochet things from it. About the only thing I don’t do anymore is have is an actual day job.

DF: Where do you live and what do you tell the government you do for a living?

NH: I currently reside in beautiful, rural Eastern Conneticut, in one of the last agricultural and open woodland areas in this part of the state. I’ve been fortunate not to have to work outside the home for many years. I was a stay-at-home mom for my boys growing up, and my mother lived with us, so I had enough time and helping hands to pursue interests and hobbies that might turn into a later life career. Writing was one of those. Right now, the IRS knows I am a writer, because I actually got to claim royalties on one tax return.

DF: How long have you been writing?

NH: There are two answers to that question.

#1) All my life; because I’ve always had a love affair with the written word, and I’m a natural born story teller. I was that kid in school who didn’t mind book reports, essay questions, and term papers because I knew I’d find something interesting to say. I read a lot, and after a while you develop a style of writing you prefer, so I guess the progression to writer was a natural thing. I’ve kept journals and written 8 page letters to people.

#2) I started writing with the intention of getting published sometime in the late 80s, when my boys were elementary school age. I had tried music, marketing my artwork (I dabble) and a craft supply business before I settled on writing as the best fit with my lifestyle and temperament. I’m very much a creative maniac ‘behind the scenes’ sort of person, so sequestering myself away somewhere that I could let my weird imagination roam freely was very appealing. It also fit my home life the best, because while I was learning the trade, I could still be there for the family. Writing has no set hours, you can work any time of the day or night, and I did, burning that candle on both ends. I’ve had my mind fixed solidly on fantasy fiction since the mid-90s and switched my style from mainstream to pulp back in 2010, when Pro Se came along.

DF: What’s the best advice you can give a woman wanting to write Pulp?

NH: Actually, I don’t think there’s any gender difference when it comes to the actual writing, because it’s pretty open and welcoming field right now within all the indie publishing companies. So this applies to anyone who wants to write pulp. First off, don’t be the least bit intimidated by what you perceive pulp to be, because it’s a lot less mysterious than you’d think. It’s a particular technique of writing action adventure/heroic fiction with a fast pace that has permeated all pop culture media. It can be learned, and whatever you want to write can be adapted to it. Read some pulp—both classic and modern—to become acquainted with how it works. Sit in on some discussions or panels, and simply ask a few questions. Don’t be shy, because most people in this indie part of the industry are very generous with their time and expertise, and we are often available on social networking sites. You can learn a lot just by lurking, because we all love to talk about what we do and why.

DF: What’s the best thing about writing Fantasy?

NH: Fantasy has always appealed to me as a reader, because it so successfully takes me out of this world, into one where I can relive my childhood imagination vacations. I started writing it, because I hungered for more of the kind of stories I loved, and decided I would just have to create them myself. I am somewhat of an idea mill, and my mind likes to run away somewhere and play hooky for a while, so having a legitimate reason to be woolgathering makes me seem a lot less eccentric. My kids always patiently explained to their friends that mom is a writer, like its some kind of paranormal status, and I suppose it is. My family has always been very supportive. These days, if I’m walking around in tee shirts with dragons and wizards on them, mumbling to myself about swords and casting spells, nobody in my household thinks twice about it.

DF: Tell us about Pro Se Press and what you do there.

NH: I started out with Pro Se back in April 2010 as a staff writer. My dear friend Lee Houston Jr. got his foot in the door by the recommendation of another writing pal, and I begged him to share my name with Tommy Hancock, who’s always been the Pro Se front man. I sent Tommy two audition pieces (Masquerra and The Storm Lord & The Song of Heroes: Lori’s Lament) and not only did he like them, but he published them both and asked if I had more. That opened the floodgates on my files as well as new ideas, and started a year long barrage of stories old and new. As I went along, I learned to adapt what I had been doing to the pulp style, and never looked back.

Currently, I am still a regular contributor to Pro Se Presents, as well as have my own imprint, HANSEN’S WAY, which carries the bulk of my Terran World fantasy stories. I’ve written for the Pulp Obscura collaboration anthologies with Altus Press, and I’ve been tapped for other in-house anthologies as well. I write far more than sword & sorcery fantasy these days; I’ve dipped my toes in a lot of other pulpy sub-genres.

I started editing for Pro Se when we had the larger format magazines, where I handled Peculiar Adventures. I got a battlefield promotion of sorts after we started printing novels and the manuscripts began pouring in faster than Tommy could dedicate his normal 40-hour days to them. I am now Assistant Editor, which sounds very impressive but really means I fill in wherever I can, mostly editing book manuscripts. Other than that, I’m sort of an unofficial ambassador and sounding board, because I like chatting with people about what Pro Se is and what we do.

DF: Why do you have your own imprint there?

NH: They asked me nicely, and I said sure. LOL! Seriously, I had so much material written in this one particular fantasy world I created—five separate series with dedicated characters and settings so far—it just made more sense to move it out of the mainstream submissions and into a sideline. It also helps to have those short stories out of the magazines, leaving more room for other submissions, as well as for me to experiment with different genres.

DF: What’s your theory on writing Fantasy and how did you modify and/or adapt your style of writing Fantasy to Pulp?

NH:Fantasy runs the gamut, because the only unifying factor is a world based on some sort of mythological, magical, or occult concept rather than hard science and technology, or a recognizable modern or historical backdrop. It also adapts well to crossing-over with other genres like horror, westerns, mystery, science fiction, etc. So it’s really a wide-open field, which I enjoy immensely, as I have plenty of space to play with ideas.

As far as writing pulp fantasy, what I had to learn right off is that it’s absolutely vital to ramp up the pacing. I came into this as a mainstream-targeted writer, so my novels were ponderous and slow moving, and my short stories were not as action-packed as they needed to be. I can’t stress the pacing enough; the breathless action and endless adventure is what makes pulp… well, pulpy. I didn’t have a strong background in pulp like most of my peers, so this was kind of a ‘learn as you go’ experience for me. Once I understood how it works—and a lot of that came from the editing I was doing at the time—I found out it’s not as daunting as I thought.

Over the last couple years I’ve learned to adapt my perception of what diehard sword & sorcery fantasy readers expect to what pulp fans crave, with reasonable success. It requires straddling a line between telling an energetic tale with plenty of things going on, and still retaining the tried and true hero’s quest in a big world backdrop with lush details. Yes, it can be done, though it takes a lot of forethought, and every word has to count. I’ve fallen so in love with the smaller size and higher action and adventure aspects of the pulp stories, I don’t think I’d want to go back to writing the big doorstop books.

DF:Do you enjoy editing?

NH:I’ll answer that with a qualified yes. I do enjoy editing more when I am working on someone else’s manuscript, because I get to read a lot of kewl stuff! I’ve always liked working with new writers, so I’ll often get things that need some extra TLC, because I have the time and patience to work closely with an author to get the very best out of their brainchild. It’s been a very positive experience for me, and nothing makes me smile more than helping someone previously unpublished get their first book in print. It’s like seeing Christmas morning through your kid’s eyes, and remembering how that felt…

I like editing my own stuff a lot less, but it’s one of those dirty little jobs of writing you absolutely must do. I tell other authors I get edited too, and not just by me. Nobody is perfect, and I absolutely require a second set of eyes that makes sure my prose is readable. It’s easier for me to see problems with someone else’s manuscript than in my own, because I’ve read it over so many times, my brain tends to skip the problem areas.

That said, editing is a lot of work, so I prefer to intersperse it with actual writing whenever that’s feasible. I get burned out after a long manuscript edit, and long to start tapping those keys and making stories again.

DF:What can we expect from Nancy Hansen in 2013?

NH:More of the same, and more new stuff too. My sequel to FORTUNE’S PAWN, titled PROPHECY’S GAMBIT; is due out very soon from Pro Se Press. 

I have a brand new anthology collection for the imprint written and in editing right now, and another novel in progress with a second on the back burner—that second novel will be the third in the series started by FORTUNE’S PAWN. I’ve already contributed a short story to Pro Se’s TALL PULP anthology, featuring a local Connecticut legend; not sure if that will be out this year or not. I still have those two previous Pulp Obscura tales awaiting publication and expect to be involved with at least a couple others this year. 

I think you’ll see my name popping up in a couple other popular Pro Se titles. As far as Pro Se Presents, I’ve committed to continuing my Silver Pentacle, Song of Heroes, and The Keener Eye series, and along with stories already submitted and accepted that have yet to see print, I promised to write at least one more new tale for each of those ongoing titles. Now and then a standalone story will suggest itself, so I won’t rule that out either. I have a pirate yarn I’ve been mulling over that looks to be at least a novella in length. I also have something interesting coming up for the younger pulp fans that I can’t discuss right now, so stay tuned; because this is something both Pro Se and I are very excited about, and over time, it involves the collaborative efforts of two other long time writing pals.

I expect I’ll be doing more editing for Pro Se as well.

You’re going to see my name on titles by other publishers as well. I’ve already done one story for the inaugural volume of Airship 27’s SINBAD, THE NEW VOYAGES, and I’d love to do another. Once I have the time, that and perhaps another AS27 anthology might be getting a submission from me. 

I’m anxiously awaiting the publication of Mechanoid Press’ first MONSTER EARTH anthology, in which I have a story as well. Definitely would love to do another of those!

Other than that, I am open to any and all suggestions. I’m finally at the point where I’ve had to turn down some work because of lack of time. It’s a good place to be.

DF:What’s a typical Day In The Life of Nancy Hansen like?

NH: My days vary quite a bit depending on who is home and what’s on the agenda here, where we are renovating and most of the work is being done by family in our ‘spare’ time. Right now, my so-called office is in one end of the open dining room, right off the kitchen and in heart of the home, so I am front and center for everything that goes on. It gets chaotic. Most days I get up in the AM, schlep around online during breakfast and feeding the dog, making my email and social network rounds, Sometime around midmorning to noon, I get down to the heavy duty work of writing or editing. While I am at work, I try and stay offline except for research and Dictionary.com, or maybe a quick weather check. I don’t game or get tied up in anything non-writing related, though now and then I might go off on a research tangent. That said, the phone rings, people stop by, I have to handle household chores or take the dog out.

Lunch is almost always at the desk, because I don’t want to lose my working mojo. I pick an ending time for the day depending on how things have been going and whether my eyes are too tired to continue (I have poor eyesight), who’s cooking, and whether I have anything else to do before bedtime. The evening hours are for going back to email and updating my online status, and maybe a bit of online TV, since we don’t have cable TV set up here yet. I have a lot of late nights when I’m busy catching up on some research or writing, maybe chatting online with other writers or fans. This is an all older adult household, so there’s no longer the regular chaos of kids running around making a racket, other than on holidays and special occasions.

So it’s me and the keyboard a good part of the day at least 5 times a week, and often all 7 days if we’re having a quieter weekend. Depending on the time of year, I might spend time out in the garden, or working on holiday projects, cooking, or at some other project. I am never one to sit idle and do nothing, I always have some project in my hands, even when I’m watching a movie. Now and then, I take time off for appointments, to go shopping, run errands and so on, but I try and cluster as much of that into one day as I can manage. Not being able to drive because of my eyesight, I have to depend on a ride, so I make the most of every outing.

On the noisiest construction days, when people are in and out and I might have to move around a lot, or on days when my elderly and chatty mom comes for a visit, unless I have a pressing deadline, I will set writing or editing aside and focus on housework or chores. I’ve learned to be flexible, because working from home means you are bound to get interrupted. The time gets made up somewhere else. I meet most of my deadlines regardless.

Derrick Ferguson: Anything else we should know about Nancy Hansen?

Nancy Hansen: Hmmm, tough question to answer. Let’s see…

I currently write a column for the New Pulp site called So...Why Pulp? where I open my brain and let things fall onto the page every other week. I have a passion for very dark but not very sweet chocolate, tuna salad, good coffee, fresh baked bread, and pecans. I collect fantasy figurines and odds and ends of swords, bows, knives and other medieval-type weaponry. 

I’m dying to go to the UK and other European countries and tour castles, barrow graves, standing stones, and other sites that catch my fancy. I have an awful lot of houseplants and try very hard to remember to water them regularly. I’m bossy with an explosive temper, but it blows over quickly and I always try to remain tactful. I love a good laugh, even at my own expense. I tend to get obsessive about whatever my current interest of the moment is. And I do all this without the benefit of caffeine, which my system can no longer tolerate.

I will definitely be at Pulp Ark 2013, so if you want to come meet me, come looking for me at the Pro Se table. I hear we’re going to be very busy, but I’m the short & round woman with the long walnut brown hair going silver, the weird fantasy tee shirts, and green eyes behind thick glasses. I love meeting new people!