Just In Case You Missed It The First Time Around...

...I was interviewed by the writer A.K. Kuykendall over at his blog The Kuykendall Post. You can find the interview HERE. Read, enjoy and thank you.

Kickin' The Willy Bobo With...TOBIAS CHRISTOPHER

Derrick Ferguson: Who is Tobias Christopher?

Tobias Christopher: Well, I born on the wagon of a traveling show, mama had to dance for the money they stole, papa would- oh, wait. Tobias Christopher is a writer, movie watcher and some would say slightly not all there. I kid, no one ever said slightly.

DF: Where do you live and what do you do to keep yourself in cheese and crackers?

TC: I live in Greenwood, Indiana and I currently work in the slave mines of Wal-Mart.

DF: What writers have influenced you?

TC: Mark Waid and Grant Morrison in terms of comics since they were the writers whose stories first really got me into the comic scene with the Flash and JLA. In terms of books, Stephen King and Mark Twain were huge influences, but a really special shout out goes Pat Frank, the writer of Alas, Babylon, who inadvertantly inspired my first foray into fanfiction during an English assignment in high school. We were tasked with writing an alternate ending to the story. Things got insanely dark (my teacher even commented that I might have taken things a bit far) and I started to realize where my passion for storytelling would take me.

DF: Let’s jump right into it: why Fan Fiction?

TC: Because whenever I watch a movie or TV show, or read a book, I almost always ask myself "What if this character did this? Or what kind of adventures would he/she have after this? Or what's that guy in the background's story?" I just love making up new adventures for characters I love, so fanfic just seemed like a natural fit.

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

TC: Officially, since around (how long was that RPG Erik, MC and I were part of? 12- 15 years?) I'm going to say at least 15 years. Unofficially it goes back to high school when I was taking horror movies characters and making up new adventures for the likes of Chucky, Gage Creed, Macauly Culkin's character in the Good Son, etc.

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

TC: Because DCA offers a place for the pre-New 52 Universe to continue to grow and prosper, and without 99% of the darkness that the actual DC Comics were putting out there even before the New 52.

And MA I believe gives the characters a chance to grow more since we're not shoehorning Wolverine and Spider-Man into every title. The lesser known characters are given a chance to step forward, like Jamie Primas' recently ended Avengers run, which didn't rely on the big guns of the Marvel Universe.

DF: What is your favorite series you’re writing for DC Anthology and why?

TC: Of the two I'm writing for DCA, I'm going to say TEEN TITANS. I'm not very far into the run, but I am enjoying the interactions between certain characters. An upcoming issue (#12) made me realize how much I love having Static as part of the team, and I'm looking forward to telling all the stories I have planned for this group.

DF: What is your favorite series you’re writing for Marvel Anthology and why?

TC: While I love Captain America and Iceman, I'm going to go with ALPHA, the character no one seems to like. In the 10 issues I've written so far, I've grown to love this character like he was my own. Plus I have a huge love of Saturday Morning cartoons, which is a massive influence on how I'm writing this series, so writing Alpha is like writing my own SMC series

DF: Detractors of Fan Fiction claim that those who write it are wasting their time they could be using to write original stories. What’s your response to that?

TC: Haters gonna hate. But seriously, there's nothing saying you can't do both.  You can tell stories about your favorite characters and still make time to build your own universe with your own original characters. I make time to do both, but of course I have no real life to speak of.

DF: What’s the best advice you can give someone wanting to write DC and Marvel Fan Fiction?

TC: Don't be afraid to take chances with your characters, that's what fanfic is basically for. And don't just rely on the huge names, use your stories to help give life to the little guys that barely have any backstory.

DF: Are you more of a DC fan than Marvel? Or vice versa?

TC: I'm more of a Marvel fan these days. I've pretty much given up on DC, they've gotten WAY too dark and serious for my liking.

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

TC: I think Marvel still likes to have fun with its characters. I mean, Squirrel Girl and Howard the Duck have their own series now, if that doesn't scream 'fun', I don't know what does. As for DC, see my answer in the last question. They're way too dark and serious for me. A universe where guys dress up like bats to punch killer clowns, amazon women fly around with magic lassos, and an alien who can put on a pair of glasses and fool EVERYONE into thinking he's a completely different person shouldn't be steeped in realism in any way whatsoever. I think DC's missed the point of why people read comics.

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

TC: It depends on what you're looking for in fanfic, because there's an insane variety of stories out there. Not just DCA/DCO/MA/MO, but fanfiction.net and dozens of others.

DF: Why not just write original superhero fiction?  

   

TC: I actually have been for the last few years.

https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3024820/1/Omega-Guardians-Season-1

I'm currently writing the 4th season, although I am going back through and *remastering* the first three seasons to fix continuity errors and such.

DF: Do you yourself have any aspirations for writing professionally?

TC: I used to, and sometimes I still do, but for me writing's more of a hobby than anything. Maybe someday I'd like to get a book or two out. Lord knows I have plenty of original stories in me for that.

DF: What’s a typical Day In The Life of Tobias Christopher like?

TC: A lot more boring than most people would think. Wake up, get ready for work, work for 9 hours, come home, sleep, lather, rinse, repeat. Although there is the occassional murder attempt, but I just shrug those off and go on with my day like most people would.

Derrick Ferguson: Anything else we should know about Tobias Christopher?

Tobias Christopher: Well, Tobias Christopher is actually just my pen name, taken from a character from Animorphs (Tobias) and the first name of the actor who played him in the horrible live action t.v. series (Christopher). Beyond that, I know my style of writing isn't suited to everyone's taste, but I hope that those who do read my work do enjoy what they see and hopefully come back for more.

DC ANTHOLOGY

MARVEL ANTHOLOGY

Kickin The Willy Bobo With...BEX AARON

Derrick Ferguson: Who Is Bex Aaron?

Bex Aaron: That’s a great question! Bex Aaron is actually something of a chameleon – I’m a little bit of everything. A long time ago, when forced to describe myself, I came up with, “I’m a lover, a fighter, a poet, a dreamer, a dork and a smartass…not necessarily in that order.”

Basics: I’m a 32-year old divorcee, who’s completely satisfied with that status. I’m an NBA historian (I seriously know more trivia about NBA/ABA than most guys I know, and I can quote stats like a pro), a Clippers fan, a Buddhist, a rock star, a raging smartass, a Mac junkie, an unapologetic smoker, a bullying survivor, a perfectionist and a master of accents.

If I had my druthers, I’d be Canadian…and green eyed…and at least three inches taller. But I must say, I’ve made peace with myself for the most part. It’s taken me some time to get to this point, so it’s definitely worth heralding.

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

BA: I live in Texas, deep in the very heart of it (clap, clap, clap). I’m not enthused about living here. I don’t think I ever have been. I long for colder weather and more progressive thinking.

As for my day job, I’m a legal assistant at a personal injury law firm. My job entails everything from client intakes, setting up insurance claims, gathering medicals, preparing demand packages, negotiating settlements and finalizing cases. It’s riveting stuff. Oh, and the phone never stops ringing. It is a very stimulating environment – there’s never a dull moment, but at times, it can be very stressful, I won’t lie. The key, at least for me, is to take a moment to breathe and to remind myself that (in the words of my boss), that never-ending to-do list is job security!

DF: Tell us a little something about your background.

BA: I’m the only child of a single mother. We were kind of like The Gilmore Girls. I had the cool mom, the mom who not only allowed me to dye my hair pink at 14, she also did the back because I couldn’t reach it! She is still my most steadfast supporter and biggest fan. I’m everything I am today because of my mom, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. My mom was the very epitome of what a mother is supposed to be – absolutely nothing ever came ahead of me, and that’s the mother that I someday strive to be.

My life hasn’t really been that interesting. I dropped out of school in 9th grade, went back and got a GED at age 19, got married sometime in my twenties, realized what a profound mistake that was, subsequently divorced and started my life all over. The past few years have been the most turbulent of my life, but they also taught me a lot about myself, and I’ve come out much stronger on the other side of them…which, I guess, is the most anyone can hope for.

DF: What’s your philosophy of writing?

BA: I find that writing is a form of therapy. It’s a way to release some of your pent up tensions, it’s a way to lose yourself in someone else’s misery for a while…it’s very therapeutic. At the same time, though, it can also be very heart-wrenching. I am the writer that gets far too attached to their characters. I talk about them like they’re real people, and I hate the idea of them suffering…which is really ironic, given that I wrote the most miserable group of people you can imagine.

DF: Do you write for yourself or for the readers?

BA: Probably a little bit of both. I write to be read, absolutely, but I also write because I love these crazy people and this crazy world I’ve created. I think the validation trap is so easy to fall into when you are in this position. For me, personally, I’m far more about feedback than sales. I have given away more books than I’ve ever sold, in the hopes that it would generate readership and feedback. I’m a slave to it, which is a double-edged sword. The positive feedback is a great rush, and a wonderful confidence boost…and the sounds of silence devastate me.

DF: Are you interested in critics or criticism?

BA: Yes, as long as they are actually making a valid point. Those that criticize only to bring someone else down hold no merit to me. The best critics can balance positive with negative, and offer suggestions for improvement, rather than a laundry list of everything that they hate about your books. I immediately discount anyone that has nothing but negative things to say. There’s just not room in my life for negativity for the mere sake of it. Not anymore.

DF: What audience are you trying to reach with your work? Is there an audience for Bex Aaron?

BA: I’d like to reach fans of small town suspense, gripping human drama and lots of layered storytelling. Daytime or primetime soap fans. Those that enjoy a book where there are no easy answers, nor are there any happy endings. Someone who wants to immerse themselves in the messy, unraveling lives of characters that any of us could know. That sort of thing.

Is there any audience for me? Well…I’d sure like to think so. I have found a nice little core of people, who interact with me through my book’s FB page (http://facebook.com/havenpark), so I know there are people out there actually reading these books. I know that audience could always grow, though, and I certainly hope that it does!

DF: How important is it to follow your instincts while writing?

BA: Very important. My best advice to any writer is to know your characters inside and out. Work on your characterization until they feel like real people. I’ve always found that if you invest in them, it pays off. They sort of take over after a while. I’ve learned over time that my characters are much smarter than I am, and that if I just shut up and let them talk, the end result is much more satisfying. This is why I’m not really strict with outlines. I never used to do outlines at all, but I figured if I’m trying to plot a mystery series, it might be in my best interest to have some idea of how I’m going to go about it. Still, I always allow for the characters to improvise. It’s more enjoyable that way and feels more authentic to me…even if it makes the backseat driver in my own novel at times!

DF: Give us an overview of INDEPENDENCE DAY.

BA: INDEPENDENCE DAY is the story of a series of murders taking place in the overheated summer of 1966. Haven Park, Wyoming (fifteen miles east of Laramie) is the perfect picture of Americana. Violent crime doesn’t exist there. Everyone knows everyone else, and there’s a real community atmosphere…but there are also secrets that come to light one by one as more and more people end up dead.

DF: While reading Book One I couldn’t help but think that INDEPENDENCE DAY falls into a genre I like to call The Little Town With Big Secrets Genre. It starts out like “Twin Peaks” what with a surprising and horrifying murder that shocks the entire town. Then we move into “Peyton Place” territory. Are you a fan of soap operas?

BA: First of all, thank you for noticing! I always feel gratified when someone “gets it”, and you totally nailed it! J

I grew up watching soap operas. As I said, my mom was the “cool mom”, so I had my own TV, with no restrictions on what I could watch…of course, we didn’t have cable, so I couldn’t run across anything too risqué. Still, I spent my days watching soap operas and cooking shows, when I was about four or five years old. Funny thing, I can’t cook at all…but that soap opera influence has never left my writing, even after I gave up on the dismal soap genre.

What I strived to do with this book series was emulate a classic soap opera called “The Edge of Night.” For those unfamiliar with daytime, this was a series that premiered in the 1950s, and in the beginning, it was designed to be a daytime version of Perry Mason. It had the elements of mystery and classic soap drama mixed together, and that’s what I was hoping for here.

Now, when I say “classic soap drama”, I do wish to clarify that I do not mean camp, over-the-top antics like one might expect from today’s soap operas. I mean the character-driven human drama that used to be a staple of daytime television. Forbidden love, dark secrets – this sort of thing. I want to make abundantly clear that once someone dies in Haven Park, they stay that way! And nobody has an evil twin! J

DF: Is Haven Park entirely in your imagination or is it a version of someplace you grew up or once lived?

BA: It’s all my imagination, really. I grew up in a fairly small town, but nowhere near that small. I have, however, incorporated elements of my own life into the town. For instance, the church. I grew up in a Baptist church that was not unlike the one depicted in the book. The congregation largely consisted of elderly ladies who liked to backbite and talk about everyone else. There wasn’t much room for progression or change, and unfortunately, they didn’t have a pastor like Brett, who actually wanted to buck tradition and try something new. I quit going there years ago, but I suspect that it’s much the same way I left it. Cycles like that keep repeating themselves, I’ve found.

DF: INDEPENDENCE DAY is a five part story. Why five parts?  Why not write just one huge Stephen King sized doorstop of a book?

BA: INDEPENDENCE DAY actually has roots in webfiction – which, for those initiated, is a genre where one creates a website and serializes their novel, releasing one chapter at a time. The story was originally divided into arcs, consisting of ten chapters an interlude (or, as was the case of arc one, one prologue, ten chapters and two interludes).

I made the decision to remarket the story as a book series in 2011, after trying the webfiction route with little success for two years. At that time, I had two arcs completed and was laboring over the third. I decided to go ahead and release what I had at the time, and the arcs became the books.

The plan is once the story has wrapped up, I’m going to release the complete series as one humongous book, with paperbacks and electronic versions available. I have no idea how big those damned things will be, though, because this is going to be one long story.

DF: Once INDEPENDENCE DAY is done do you plan to do anything else with Haven Park and it’s good citizens?

BA: Absolutely, because I have one hell of a time letting go. My plan was originally do a prequel, but I’ve since scrapped that one. I am planning a sequel now, set 30 years later, in the summer of 1996. It would highlight the characters left standing, and how their lives have changed in the years that have passed. It’s in the very early planning stages, so I can’t really say too much about it, but I think it will be an interesting look at the characters we’ve established in a new, more jaded and even more miserable light…which, of course, is what I’m known for, so it should be fun!

DF: Anything else you’re working on that we should know about?

BA: At this time, no. I tend to be a writer that has a one-track mind. I wish I could work on multiple projects at one time, but I always feel disloyal to them when I do that. I just don’t possess that type of focus…perhaps this is why I just want one child, because I would never want to shaft either of my children because Mommy isn’t good at multi-tasking!

DF: What are your future plans for your writing career?

BA: I want to write as long as the inspiration as there and there are people still willing to read my stories. I’d love to eventually hit it big and see big screen adaptations of my novels – don’t we all want that? I try to be realistic, though. I just want to reach a few people. I want to provide them an escape, a world they can get lost in, and a way to forget about their own lives for a little while. If I can accomplish that, I’ve succeeded.

Derrick Ferguson: What’s A Typical Day In The Life Of Bex Aaron like?

Bex Aaron: Weekdays: Wake up, have coffee, smoke, get dressed, go to work, lose my mind in small increments over the course of the day, come home, unwind and settle into bed with my phone and Netflix. I’m not much of a partier. I’m a very boring old woman, actually…but I like my life, and that’s what counts.

Weekends: Wake up, have coffee, smoke, repeat, listen to Mmmbop (seriously, that is what I’m listening to as I type this), spend time with my mom and labor over my writing. I used to be able to knock out a chapter a weekend, but not so much these days. I need to get back into the habit, especially given that I have a deadline to meet! INDEPENDENCE DAY: Book Four, Dirty Little Secret, is coming on May 1.

Did you see how subtly I snuck that plug in there? I’m so awesome at marketing, as you know. Slick as all hell, I am! J

BEX AARON'S AMAZON PAGE

12 Months Later With...Tommy Hancock

It’s been a while since the original Kickin’ The Willy Bobo Interview with Tommy Hancock. In that time, the flamboyant and outspoken Mr. Hancock has been hard at work doing what he does best: being the spokesman of Pro Se and the public face of New Pulp. So I thought it about time we caught up with him on the anniversary of that first interview and here he is 12 MONTHS LATER…

Derrick Ferguson: Have there been any major changes in your life personally and professionally since we last talked?

Tommy Hancock: Nothing major, other than dealing with a few health issues that seemed to get in the way of creativity and spreading the word of Pro Se some.  But overall things have remained much the same.  Still have a great wife, three kids I totally do not deserve, and enjoying every day - and this has been happening daily for a while- hearing from a writer, artist, or fan about their interest in Pro Se and the work that everyone involved is doing.

DF: How do you feel Pro Se has grown in the past 12 months?

TH: Pro Se won’t stop growing.  Not only are we adding titles and creators right and left, but our numbers on all levels are on an upswing.  More importantly, though, I think Pro Se’s greatest growth has been in its appeal to more readers and different audiences. We spent 2014 laying a lot of groundwork for expanding our readership and, although much of that won’t see fruition until this year, we’re already finding that what we do appeals to an extremely broad base.  Being identified both as a Genre Fiction and a New Pulp Publisher has helped open up several titles that have sat dormant for months, even years to readers, that we always knew were there. And now we are finding them or, in a lot of cases, they are following all the bread crumbs Pro Se’s left in various ways and finding us.

DF: How do you feel that you personally as an editor and publisher have grown in the past year?

TH: As a publisher, I have gained a tremendous amount of focus on just what Pro Se Productions is capable of.  When I started out, I was like a wide eyed kid at a candy store, not only wanting to taste every little thing I could, but working up ideas on how to make it all even better.  I’m still that kid, but I understand what I have the privilege of managing now isn’t candy, but little bits of magic.  Not my magic, I’m not the wizard, I’m just the guy who gets to pull them out of his hat.  And that’s not only a blast, but it’s a responsibility. One that I feel like I understand better than I ever have before. 

It’s also one that all publishers approach in different ways.  Some aren’t big fans of how I do what I do, others have said they think it’s the best way to go.  Me, it’s what works for me.  Pro Se Productions is a publishing company, but we’re a company with intentions, with various plans that all boil down to one mission- getting the best stories out to as many readers as possible.

As an editor, I think I’ve matured as well.  And a lot of that I owe not only to having so much wonderful work that I get to help edit, but to one man.  Joe Gentile, the mad genius behind Moonstone Books, has taught me more in five or six sentences over the last few years concerning editing than any course, seminar or book ever could.

DF: Is the direction Pro Se heading in now the same as it was a year ago?

TH: Yes, most definitely. I think we’ve discussed before that I sort of had a five-year plan for Pro Se from 2011 forward.  It is moving exactly the direction I wanted it to when we started publishing novels and anthologies in 2011.  Could things be better? Well, sure, every book could sell thousands and millions of copies.  But we are heading in what I consider the right direction for what we want to do long term. And that, simply put, is to be around for many years to come and to be a defining voice in New Pulp and Genre Fiction.

DF: Where do you see Pro Se in five years?

TH: Well into the next phase of our plan to be around awhile.   We are building a catalog now and have done quite well at that.  Five years from now, I hope to see us still adding to that catalog, but also to have several properties that readers are just seeing debut now or in the last few years, to have a collection of flagship titles to rival any company out there.  We’ve grown at an amazing speed intentionally and that may level off beginning in the next two to three years, but growth won’t stop.  We’ve been building the house from the ground up so to speak, hopefully in five years we’ll be expanding, adding on bells and whistles to our many rooms.

DF: What’s the best thing about dealing with writers? The worst?

TH: This can be answered with the same answer.  Their excitement about their work.  It is thrilling and invigorating to bask in and be a part of the fire that burns in a writer, or any creator for that matter.  It is one of the major reasons I do this.  

And as for that being the worst thing, let me explain.  Sometimes writers, and being one myself I have been guilty of this, believe that what they have is the best possible work ever and nothing can make it better and the world has to have it now.  And all of those are wonderful emotions and feelings and attachments to have.  But when a work comes to a publisher and the writer cannot let go of those feelings, then it becomes somewhat problematic at times.  I’m proud to say that issues arising because of this have been few and far between at Pro Se. And also, I believe every writer should commit to that passion should stand up for their works.  But there has to be a willingness to compromise when working with a publisher and although most every writer we have understands that, not all do and find their way to self-publishing or other avenues that are just as valid as what we would provide them.

DF: How do you see the New Pulp Community these days? Is it still a community?

TH: I am told on a regular basis that I’m one of the organizers of the New Pulp Movement, and I suppose I am. Not that I invented New Pulp, as I didn’t, or that I was the first to envision the concept, because again I was not. But I did have a hand in organizing several publishers and creators under a unifying ‘New Pulp Movement’ banner of sorts. 

So there’s my answer.  No, I don’t think New Pulp is a community and I really haven’t ever seen it that way.  A community denotes a group of people all existing together and working in concert to better the group as a whole on a consistent, regular basis.  And although New Pulp publishers and creators have done that and continue to do that every day – if one of us succeeds, then all of us float a little bit closer to the top is a concept I believe in – I do not see New Pulp as cohesive conceptual village all having the same goal.   There’s a reason why I suggested calling it ‘The New Pulp Movement.’

Movements move, and hopefully forward.  And not only that, but Movements grow and change and rise and fall…and the people, the movers, they change also.  Sometimes the faces change, other times the place the movers have in the Movement shift for better or worse, but everything in a successful movement continues evolving, expanding, becoming something different.  And just about the time you think it’s matured into one thing, it pushes even harder and is on its way to being something else. That’s what New Pulp is to me.

DF: Do you think that New Pulp will ever have respectability?

TH: It sort of depends on what you mean by that.  I think New Pulp is very highly respected within a particular niche, that being that cadre of fans that identify themselves as New Pulp fans.  Now, there’s at least one other niche that hasn’t always had the highest regard for what we do, but even that has changed in the last few years.  If you mean do I think we’ll ever have the respectability of being considered ‘proper’ literature and completely mainstream, God, I hope not.    

One of the great things about New Pulp, and in a larger sense specific Genre Fiction, is that there’s a roughness to it, a rawness that allows each writer to come at it individually, to put in appropriate elements shared by others, but also to leave a mark on a story, on a genre, on a reader that is uniquely the creator’s own.  I would argue that being mainstream and literary, that that sort of respectability requires creators to give up that edge, that individuality to a large degree.  So, no, in that sense, I hope New Pulp is never respectable.

DF: Are you working on any writing projects of your own?

TH: I have several things that are due, some a long time now, for Pro Se and others.  Thankfully, I have patient publishers and can only hope the readers are as patient.  Running a publishing company, especially one as aggressive as Pro Se has become, takes a lot of time.  Writing has taken a back seat and will have to for a bit longer, probably through March.  But, yes, there’s several things on the burners…and, of course, new ideas brewing as well.

Derrick Ferguson: What is the one thing above all others we should be eagerly looking for from Pro Se in 2015?

Tommy Hancock: The best damn Genre Fiction and New Pulp on the market between the covers of every single book bearing the Pro Se logo.

Pro Se Productions

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Kickin' The Willy Bobo With...RAYMOND EMBRACK

Derrick Ferguson: Who is Raymond Embrack?

Raymond Embrack: Escritor independiente de la ficcion

DF: Where do you live and what do you do to keep the bill collectors away?

RE: Currently in Los Angeles with years in an unnamed position in an unnamed industry.

DF: Tell us a little something about your background.

RE: Some film, some theater, some science fiction. Nothing much. Planning to start a new background in the future.

DF: How long have you been writing?

RE: Since 1978.

DF: What writers have influenced you?

RE: Harlan Ellison. Ernest Tidyman. James Ellroy. Hunter S. Thompson. Iceberg Slim. Andrew Vachss. Quentin Tarantino. Walter Mosely. Elmore Leonard. Robert B. Parker. Mickey Spillane.

DF: What’s your philosophy of writing?

RE: Never be boring. Leave out the slow parts. Write books that are non-stop pleasure. Write like books have to compete with video games, blockbuster movies, strippers and cocaine.

DF: How important is it to follow your instincts while writing?

RE: Always. But I’m learning the critical instinct to question everything, including my instincts.

DF: Are you interested in critics or criticism?

RE: Of my stuff? Your criticism helped me rewrite my first superhero novel. I don’t think a writer can improve without criticism. But that opinion is subject to change too.

DF: Do you crave recognition?

RE: Anything that hard to get deserves to be craved, hunted down, taken, beheaded then eaten. It has taken a long time.

DF: What audience are you trying to reach with your work? Is there an audience for Raymond Embrack?

RE: I write for outlaw bikers and Japanese strippers. I made the mistake of writing the work before defining the audience. Maybe I’ll do better next time.

DF: How do you use social media to promote your writing?

RE: That’s something I’m still figuring out.

DF: One of the things I love about your writing is that it so fearlessly non-PC and for me that’s refreshing. Was that a conscious decision on your part or did your writing just develop that way over time?

RE: Why does the best stuff tend to be anti-PC? It just is. For better or worse I have always gone for that in my writing. To me there’s no point in holding back.

DF: Who is Peter Surf? Where did he come from and why does he make you want to write about him?

RE: Surf has been around since the 1990s. He got his name from the music in “Pulp Fiction”. From there my action hero took shape. Surf is a comedian, a badass, a killer. Surf is not an anti-hero, he is my version of the most interesting man in the world. That is a guy who does all things with swagger. Is he a male fantasy? I can’t pretend he’s a realistic character. The action hero exists to hit that sweet spot just short of the mask & cape.

DF: I love the concept of Blonde City. Where did that come from?

RE: For me there was more escapism value in making up a city than using an existing and probably over-used setting. It gives me way more to play with. This is America’s newest city, one made of sudden wealth, gloss and hype. It only hires policemen who are hot. It gives the homeless lipstick.

DF: Which Peter Surf novel was your favorite to write?

RE: Has to be The Guns of Tony Franciosa. I took it off the market just so I could keep rewriting it.

DF: What is the future of Peter Surf?

RE: He seems a few books short, so more Surf will happen.

DF: Perhaps my favorite book of yours I’ve read so far is EL MOROCCO.  It’s the swingin’ 60s on crack. What was the inspiration for that story and the characters?

RE: The inspiration was John Ridley’s “A Conversation with the Mann” his comedian/swingin’ 60s novel. Had to write my own version, plus I’m a fan of the “Mad Men era.”

DF: How much of a superhero fan are you?

RE: I’m an unfrozen fan. I have to work my way up to “nerd.” Real nerds read and watch everything and know all. After years focused on crime fiction, I’m returning to the thing I started with. I now get that the superhero can be as ambitious a character to write but one even closer to the brain’s pleasure center.

DF: Marvel or DC?

RE: DC

DF: Who are some of your favorite comic book writers?

RE: Howard Chaykin. Alan Moore. Neil Gaiman. Ed Brubaker. Scott Snyder.

DF: Your five favorite superheroes?

RE: Batman. The Hulk. The Black Panther. Rorschach. Black Canary.

DF: Explain the concept behind the AXIS Superhero Novels.

RE: Typically superheroes exist in a world where comic book superheroes never existed. In the AXIS world they exist in this world with its same comic book culture. That is only possible when somehow the reality follows the archetype. I took that premise and fused it with my older sci-fi concept of an alien that takes the form of an Earth city.  That formed the AXIS concept.

I wouldn’t call it “alternate history” more like “alternate present.” In 1970, from nowhere the city of Brutalia appeared in one day. It is the only city where superpowers exist. Outside the city superpowers cease to exist. There, three major organizations are at war, AXIS, the superheroes who seek to keep superpowers from reaching the outside world; the OGD (Order of Global Domination) the supervillains who seek to export superpowers to conquer the outside world; O.U.T.S.I.D.E., superheroes seeking to export superpowers to benefit the outside world.

Oddly enough, I see these characters with the realism I don’t see Peter Surf. These are not anti-heroes or anti-supervillains, they are multidimensional people redefined by gestalt myth made reality. Their superpowers are their career. Both AXIS and the OGD have Washington lobbyists. Like real people, they don’t all automatically invent new super identities, they become existing fictional superheroes, as when one of them attempted to become a real Wonder Woman. The leader of AXIS becomes the (fictional) KM Comics brand superheroes of his teens.

The novels are themselves a process as, from an amnesiac fog, Brutalia, its people, their memory, its mysteries, and the culture around it evolves, mutates, take shape. There is room for years of this to come.

DF: The AXIS Superhero Novels are quite explicit when it comes to sex and violence. Again, was this a conscious decision on your part or did the novels just develop that way over time?

RE: That’s what they are, adult content in comic book terms. The superheroes and supervillains are adults at play with real weapons. The sex and violence are unleashed id. I see the art by Howard Chaykin with splattered heads and “Black Kiss” nymphos.

DF: Are there graphic novels or comic books based on characters from the AXIS Superhero Novels planned for the future?

RE: In 2015 AXIS will start going visual. The plan involves art, graphic comix and novels and animated films. And merch. In the future there will be action figures. Someday, a Taco Bell tie-in.

DF: Have you thought about opening up the AXIS Universe to other writers in a fashion similar to the “Wild Cards” series?

RE: That never occurred to me. I don’t think other writers want a piece of this.

DF: What is the future of the AXIS Universe?

RE: There will be more new superheroes and supervillains. The Carousel will change his name to Spinrax. There will be more like Bag of Green Army Men that take place in the multiverse of KM Comics. I have a thing for steampunk, so I see an AXIS steampunk series.

DF: What are your plans for your writing career? Where is Raymond Embrack going to be five years from now?

RE: Going full time writer. Five years from now: even more full time with extra full time.

DF: What are you working on now?

RE: Planning the next Surf novel and the next AXIS novel, both to write in 2015.

DF: What’s a typical Day in the Life of Raymond Embrack like?

RE: It begins in the compound known as Embrack Wonderland. Report to the day job, which is at home, at a desktop. Maybe lunch at Fat Sal’s. Whistle blows. Return to Wonderland. When an Embrack novel is in production, writing may occur.

DF: Recommend a book, a TV show and a movie.

BOOK: The Storm Giants by Pearce Hansen

TV SHOW: The Pleasure (Playboy TV Latin America)

MOVIE: The Raid 2

Derrick Ferguson: Anything else we need to know?

Raymond Embrack: This has been boss. Thanks for letting me kick it with you, Derrick.

RAYMOND EMBRACK'S AMAZON PAGE

Kickin' The Willy Bobo With...TRACY ANGELINA EVANS

Derrick Ferguson: Who is Tracy Angelina Evans?

Tracy Angelina Evans: That kid you saw get picked on at school, but never really paid much attention to, ‘cos she seemed to strive for invisibility.

DF: Where do you reside and what do you do to keep yourself in cheese and crackers?

TAE: After “serving time” in South Carolina for almost 33 years, I am now residing in San Diego. Cheese and crackers are in abundance, since seven of her roommates are birds.

DF: Tell us something about your background.

TAE: I was born in Asheville, NC in 1967, but moved to  Duncan, SC at the age of 13.  My entire family were artists of some sort, but most were in love with writing or music.

DF: How long have you been writing? 

TAE: Between the ages of 4 and 7.  I was told by my paternal grandmother to go draw flies. Taking her literally, I began to draw flies, then flies in spider webs, and then I had to give a reason why they ended up in such a horrible position.  The writing of such a terrible tragedy was my first attempt.

DF: What are your influences? 

TAE: Music is my primary influence.  As for writers, Clive Barker is at the top.  His work is what eased me into the idea I’d always wanted to share:  The Monster Is the Beautiful One. Tolkien’s obsession with language is what drew me to him. Others include Carl Jung, Stephen King, Salvador Dali, Leonard Wolf (in particular), Russell Hoban, historical mysteries about the Cathars, the Great Mortality, the Dyatlov Pass, and a variety of “expert” books on Shamanism, prophecy, divine madness, and alchemy.

DF: What is your philosophy of writing? 

TAE: It’s kind of Quantum theory, I guess, since I lean toward the science that thought cannot happen without having happened before or happened in complete reverse.  That would certainly explain the similarities of Vampires from one culture to another.  But, to take it a step further, your mere thought of a thing brings it into existence.  It may seem to be fantasy to you, but in some spot in the multiverse, someone if fighting a real fight, and probably losing, against a spectre calling himself Cadmus.  Probable?  Don’t know.  Possible?  Maybe.  I’m not a Physicist.  The Vampire books I’ve written aren’t typical horror fair; rather, I consider recycled Faery stories, and folklore from around the world, with the added luxuries of electricity and social media.  Trying to combine the ancient and the modern is why I never give an actual time that anything in the books happened.  Also, I deliberately moved around the dates of actual events in our reality, so it would be difficult to place the narrative of the story with a calendar of any sort.

DF: What is your writing process? Are you a plotter or a pantser?

TAE: Both!  No, it really depends on what the story is wanting.  If I can outline it, I try to remain to true to that, in typical Virgo fashion.  But there are many times where I’ve seen the story go off the rail and refuse to budge.  This can be rather painful, especially when it involves Cadmus Pariah being needlessly cruel.  One of my editors, Jill Rosenburg, gave me the title of “method writer,” because I tend to go too deep, feel too much, and leave with wounds that may not heal.

DF: How do you use social media to promote your writing? What audience are you trying to reach with your work? Is there an audience for Tracy Angelina Evans?

TAE: I try to mention it and sample it as often as possible, everywhere I linger online, and do so in all social formats all at once, or at least close to it.  Our Internet is no longer a giant web, or an endless sea, it’s grown to the proportion of universe itself; as a result most everything gets lost in the miasma.  The more a worf, a phrase, or hashtag comes closer to the surface, the more like it will be to get noticed. 

Anyone who grows weary of Hemingway’s Iceberg Style of writing may enjoy these.  Those interested in Vampires, not so much the American version, but the earlier European version may appreciate this.  George Gordon Lord Byron’s groupies may also love Thiyennen.  Folks who like to read a book or story, then get to say near the end, “So this is why that happened!  Well, hootdang!”

So, yeah, I’d like to think I had an audience.  That would be great!  But I have no such delusion I will ever be a subject at the dinner table.  That’s okay.  The books were as much for my own understanding of the Great Ineffable as they are for others’ enjoyment, horror, or WTF moments.

DF: Two more questions before we get to discussing your trilogy. First; why the obsession with Shriekback and where did it begin?

TAE: Oh, where there is a story and a half for you.  I’d heard the name of the band over the years but growing up on the buckle of the Bible Belt with few record stores around, and even less money with which to buy them, I remained tight to my Electric Light Orchestra roots.  It was only until after cable finally made its way to my area that I finally got to see MTV, before it became the joke it is today.  I began collecting music videos, a lot of which would be more prevalent at night.  Since I was working 1^st Shift at BMG, I would ask Aunt Tudi is she’d put my tape on record before she went to bed.   One night, after taping the Cure’s ‘Lullaby,’ which I been dying to have, she decided to leave the tape recording as she watched the video.

When I got up the next morning, she told me she got the vid I had wanted, but she also had a video I may be interested in, because it looked a little like “that Fellini movie you like so much.”  She was referring to Satyricon.    So ‘Nemesis’ was the first song I intentionally heard by the band.  It turned out years later, that I’d been listening to them four years before I saw ‘Nemesis,’ because one of my first VHS movies was the first Hannibal movie, Manhunter.  

  

It turned out that their music would have a large part in creating the essence with which I wanted to blanket the stories.  Between European Classical (mostly Czech in nature), Romani music, South African music, Klezmer, and Shriekback, I had before me a musical Nirvana I really couldn’t explain.  But I can say that the ebb and flow of The Relics are very closely tied to Shriekback’s songs.  That’s the primary reason a portion of their lyrics are offered as each chapters’ lean-in.

DF: And what are The Tim Roth Tutorials?

TAE: I started the Tim Roth Tutorials as a way of dipping my foot in the video-making process, because I wanted to create lyric videos for Illuminati’s songs, which have so far only been released once via the Shriekback Digital Conspiracy back in the early 2000s.  I didn’t know diddly about WSFTP, so this was practice for me.  Then it got some attention of some of Tim Roth’s “Hooligans” – his fans – who wanted more tutorials.  I think I have around 200 now?  I don’t know.  When I switched to Mac, I’ve been trying to learn iMovie, so I can continue them, ‘cos it’s a fun hobby, and some folk seem to like them.

DF: Why write about vampires?

TAE: I write about Vampires because I was raised on a steady media diet of vampirism, thanks to watching ‘Dark Shadows’ in my playpen whilst the mother unit toodled about.  Then came Shock Theatre on Saturdays, followed by reruns of the original ‘Star Trek.’  Being an only child, Vampires and space men became my siblings.  During college, I decided to study Vampiric origins and discovered that every culture describes almost the same thing, when asked about Vampires.  The great thing about 30 Days of Night is that it’s the most accurate account of Vampires, according to folklore.  Even if they are accurate, they still aren’t my favourite.  Neither is the modern, buddy-buddy attitude so many have to day.  Vampires do not sparkle. 

Honestly, though, I think I write about Vampires for the same reason many others do, if I may make such a bold assumption:  I write them because they allow me to be something on paper what I can never be in “reality.”  Going to that place where philosophy is uttered whilst a mage-like individual carefully vivisects his victim, because death would just ruin the moment, frees me to be kinder in real life, whatever that may be.

And then there’s this whole legendary vibe, where Vampires come into a story that has nothing to do with them and, if you read between the lines, you can almost sense how some of the earlier legends manifested.  Some of the greatest moments of archetypal panic are of the Great Mortality, heavenly events (that we can now explain), even crib death.  I believe everything is cyclic, and I believe in the ability to create Tulpas, and when enough energy is focused on one thing or belief, that thing acquires power.

DF: Do you think that popular culture is oversaturated with vampires? 

TAE: More often than not, considering the Twilight franchise.  But we humans, as a whole, prefer the presence of thought forms in our lives.  They’re familiar, they answer questions, especially about ourselves.  As such, every generation experiences a saturation of sorts.  We need it, to carry on the stories, satiate the monster with the blood of our imaginations.  It would be a much more depressing world, if we weren’t afforded that tinge of possibility that the succubus is right around the corner.

DF: What makes your vampires and your conception of vampires different from those we’ve seen recently in books, movies and television?

TAE: Well, they all owe their existence to a race that inhabited the planet before humans ever walked the surface.  So the first ten Vampires were of alien origin.  There is a science-fiction feel to the books, as a result, as well as a mythic/legendary vibe, especially in the second book, The Blood Crown. Vampires are mostly just like us, some can even withstand the sun.  Believe it or not, not all traditional Vampires would perish by sunlight.  One, called vrykolokas, from Greek legend, would often go to his job after he’d died, and go home to his family.  There were just those inconvenient times of drinking so much blood, he’d turn ruddy and look like a barrel.  That gave him the name “drum-like” – vrykolakas.  I haven’t been reading or watching much Vampire media in years, because I tend to soak things up and I don’t want to inadvertently steal something from someone else.

DF: Give us an overview of The Vampire Relics Trilogy.

TAE: The Vampire Relics Trilogy concerns three sacred objects that hold the entire nation of Vampires (the Great Hive) sway.  Each book is named for a relic and, even though it is the relics that drive the story, it is how the character behaves during and after the hunt.  More about the origins of the relics, the Vampires, and their maker comes to light with each book.

DF: Did you conceive of The Vampire Relics as a trilogy right from the start? And if not, when did you know it was going to be a trilogy?

TAE: The Chalice was supposed to be one book, ending with the imprisonment of then-villain Kelat.  At that time, in 1987, it was my attempt to come to grips with the idea of “soul mates,” how so many people find a kind of psychic completion when they meet that one, the one who finishes your sentences or shares memories of things that never happened to either of us.  This was when I started reading A Dream of Dracula by Leonard Wolf and Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln.  Those books, combined with my life-long fascination with Arthurian legends, along with learning about “alternative” religions, where a cup was the most sacred of tools to have on an altar, because the cup represented the feminine force, life, and immortality.  I left it open-ended, not because I was planning on writing another book, but because I thought I might one day revisit those characters.

When I wrote a little drabble on my Live Journal about Cadmus interrupting Kelat as she meditated in what she thought was a secret temple, that gave rise to the second book of the Relics, The Blood Crown.

DF: Is it accurate to say that The Vampire Relics began with Cadmus Pariah? Who is Cadmus Pariah and why does he fascinate you so?

TAE: The stories that came to light in the three books were, some of them, decades old.  In the first bones of the story, Kelat was the antagonist, the image of beautiful evil so reviled by her hero brother Thiyennen, who happened to be a Vampire himself.  Character-building and story construction began in 1987.  I knew what I wanted to tell, but I didn’t know how I could tell it.  Also, I was very uncomfortable making Kelat out to be the antagonist, based upon all I’d then read about Goddess worship and attempts of the patristic tribes to wash any shred of history she had from human brains then and forever.  I wanted to mart of campaign.  But I was without a villain again, so the story and its mythologies lay dormant for almost three years.  When I listened to ‘Deeply Lined Up’ by Shriekback in 1990 that was the last straw.  It was that song that gave birth to the Pariah.

But it’s Rob Dougan’s ‘Clubbed to Death’ that has consistently aided in defining the character.  That piece possesses a quiet menace that is only magnified by the piano solo.  It’s a song of one-ness and alone-ness, and being perfectly all right with both states.  Almost everyone believes that Cadmus was born from one inspiration.  True to his nature in the books, he has several parents, and belongs to none of them.  

DF: You’ve taken great pains to create an entire mythology for your trilogy. How difficult is it to create a universe?

TAE: A lot of the mythology I used in The Vampire Relics is material I could never make fit into a proper book, and I perceive that “over” story to still be telling else.  The mythology was there so the trilogy could be born. 

DF: Which book was the most fun and easiest to write? Which one was the hardest?

TAE: The Blood Crown was the most fun, but the parts about what Cadmus does to Faust weren’t very fun at all.  Otherwise, it was a joy, because I got to study Orphaeus and Cadmus much more intimately than before.  Their travels, to me, took on a Hope/Crosby vibe, so that was a great deal of fun.

The Chalice was the first, and it was the one that hibernated for the coming of the Shrieks into my life.  After that, it was written pretty fast. The Augury of Gideon has been most difficult, because “real life” was taking up not only my time, but challenging the belief system from whence the books came.  There were some days I struggled with not blurting out what Gideon’s augury really was.

DF: I know you have a deep interest in conspiracy theories. How much of that went into and/or influence you while writing The Vampire Relics?

TAE: The back-story of the Apostate came almost wholly from the arcane legends of ‘The Brotherhood of the Snake’, the Cathars, and the Knights Templar.  The man, the human, who brought the curse of blood down on the ten Tarmi, was in the Brotherhood of the Snake, and a student at the Tarmian college of Khemeth.  As you can see from just that, conspiracy theories and ancient aliens take up a lot of my time.

DF: What have you got planned next? And where do you see your writing career five years from now?

TAE: Right now, I’m writing what I think will be a standalone book.  It will feature Cadmus, of course, as well as Orphaeus,Rebekah, and Mephistopheles.  It’ll introduce Cadmus’ rival, Flint.  The working title is TAE: The back-story of the Apostate came almost wholly from the arcane legends of ‘The Brotherhood of the Snake’, the Cathars, and the Knights Templar.  The man, the human, who brought the curse of blood down on the ten Tarmi, was in the Brotherhood of the Snake, and a student at the Tarmian college of Khemeth.  As you can see from just that, conspiracy theories and ancient aliens take up a lot of my time.

DF: What have you got planned next? And where do you see your writing career five years from now?

TAE: Right now, I’m writing what I think will be a standalone book.  It will feature Cadmus, of course, as well as Orphaeus, Rebekah, and Mephistopheles.  It’ll introduce Cadmus’ rival, Flint.  The working title is The Harming Tree, which actually exists, and was a musical instrument of sorts made by Barry Andrews. which actually exists.

Here's what he said about the thing on the Shriekback Music Tumblr

DF: What’s a Typical Day In The Life of Tracy Angelina Evans like?

TAE: Get up, if I ever got down.  Get down, no matter what state you’re in.  Getting down is never a bad thing.  Attempt breakfast.  Clean the cat box.  Follow cookie crumbs and connect dots ~ kind of a synchronistic Yoga to help with sanity-management.  Research, research, research.  Promote, promote, promote (not me).  Read the latest news and let the anger flow through me.  Read the latest in space and physics news, and let the wonder flow through me.  Try to respond to all communications.  Then write, to music.  If there’s no music, there is no writing.

Derrick Ferguson: Anything else we need to know?

Tracy Angelina Evans: Everything you ever imagined might be in that scary closet in your is, is.  And it’s your fault for imagining it, in the first place.  Rest well, tonight.