Prime Time Replay:
J. S. Russell
on Celestial Dogs
MsgId: *omni_visions(41)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:12:15 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
Hello, all. And welcome to J.S. Russell. This is Ed Bryant signing on late--the ever popular servicer busy signal is my excuse this evening. All worked fine in an earlier test. But what the heck. Mr. Russell and I are both on-line finally, so I apologize for my tardiness. And oh, try to ignore the old inteview attached to this text. It should have been cleared out with cobwebs, but wasn't. Ignore the man behind the curtain. At any rate, I'll introduce our guest in just a moment; but first I'd simply like to say "welcome." I'm glad you're with us tonight.
MsgId: *omni_visions(42)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:13:31 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Hey, Ed! Glad you made it -- was feeling a little lonely for a minute
MsgId: *omni_visions(43)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:16:40 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
Tonight's guest is J.S. Russell, also known on his British book bylines as Jay Russell. He began selling short fiction in 1990 with a sale to "Midnight Graffiti. He's published in a number of magazines and anthologies. "Splatterpunks" and the Paul Sammon's Dead Elvis anthologies are good examples. His first novel, CELESTIAL DOGS, appeared early in '96 from Britain's Raven Books, to be followed later in the year by BLOOD from the same publisher. CELESTIAL DOGS is shortly to be published in the U.S. by St. Martin's Press. Since you're an expatriated American writer, now living in the UK, have you any extra antipation in regard to your novels appearing here?
MsgId: *omni_visions(44)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:19:31 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
I was a little surprised when the book sold in the UK before it did in the States -- I thought it was a very American sort of book, especially in terms of pop culture references. The nice thing about the US edition coming out now is a whole new rush of excitement -- reviews, etc. It definitely is a thrill -- even if I can't wander into a bookstore and see it on the shelf.
MsgId: *omni_visions(45)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:25:10 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
I'll be candid--I've only read the first couple dozen pages of CELESTIAL DOGS; however I have read all of BLOOD and will be shortly reviewing it for "Locus." With the first novel, I'm getting some of the same tone as, say, Todd Grimson's BRAND NEW CHERRY FLAVOR: very contemporary Hollywood influenced book, lots of pop cultural references, along with the bonus of Japanese mythology. And, of course, plenty of exceedingly graphic violence. I noticed a month ago that a "Locus" reviewer gave DOGS a mixed review. (And not trying to brown-nose, but my review of BLOOD will be rather more enthusiastic.) You mentioned reviewers. Do you think a certain portion of the audience is going to turn off to your novels because "the music's too loud, and they're too old"?
MsgId: *omni_visions(46)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:27:35 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
Tangential announcement here: after the first hour or so, depending on our guest's stamina, we'll open up the format for chat. You'll be able to ask questions directly.
MsgId: *omni_visions(47)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:30:07 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
I've not read the Grimson book, though I hear good things. I was a bit annoyed by the LOCUS review, not to much because it was so-so, but because I don't think that reviewer has much of a feel for horror. There is certainly a risk in writing graphic fiction that you will alienate part of the audience. Anyone who reads either book will see that I'm no slave to the market, but I don't want to write to a small selection of readers only. The sequel to DOGS, due out here in the Fall, is much less graphic. For several reasons. That said, BLOOD still lacks a US publisher.
MsgId: *omni_visions(48)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:35:07 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
I feel your use of graphic violence is graduated according to the book's needs. In BLOOD, one of my favorite violent bits was actually simply a talking head statement. The character Greymarch says, "It's the information society. You need information, you bust open a head or take a hammer to a kneecap. There's a whole city full of information out there. Who needs the Internet?" Who indeed? To me this also touched on what seems like an affection for mean-streets noir? Do you have that interest?
MsgId: *omni_visions(49)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:39:11 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Oh, yeah. I love hardboiled detective fiction. DOGS is as much a detective story as it is a horror novel -- St. Martin's is publishing it as part of their "mystery" line. I love horror and there has been some terrific work in the genre, but over the course of the past few years I've gotten more pleasure from crime novels than horror. James Ellroy and James Lee Burke are top of my list, though I also have a guilty affection for Andrew Vachss. Certainly Joe Lansdale's move to straight crime fiction has worked well for him. I think Mucho Mojo is his best novel-length work. And of course I adore Chandler and Hammett.
MsgId: *omni_visions(50)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:44:10 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
I agree with all your citations. I'm waiting with great anticipatory excitement for Joe Lansdale's BAD CHILI. Just read Norm Partridge's SAGUARO RIPTIDE, a strange crime novel indeed; and am in Ray Garton's SHACKLED, which rings some weird changes on the usual Vachss themes. Anyhow. With your crime fiction background, not to mention your PR person's claim that you're an old Mets fan, how did you make the segue into horror (or in the case of BLOOD, sf so slipstream and gooshy, it might as well be outright horror)?
MsgId: *omni_visions(51)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:51:39 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Believe me, nobody knows the meaning of horror like a Mets fan -- even an ocean away from Shea Stadium. I *am* a devoted horror fan -- my first short fiction sales were all horror (and one obscure SF story). I had a fairly straightforward detective story in mind for CELESTIAL DOGS -- rooted in the idea of the Marty Burns character, a down on his luck ex-child star -- but as I wrote the book, the horror/supernatural elements just forced their way in. I knew that market-wise it wasn't such a gerat idea, but I also liked the way the supernatural elements developed. You can't really fight it in the end if it's right. BLOOD is slightly more straightforward, though it, too, could be called a horror novel, an SF tale or a police procedural.
MsgId: *omni_visions(52)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:52:45 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Sorry about that delay -- my modem just hung-up! This is a tenuous way to do an interview.
MsgId: *omni_visions(53)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:56:56 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
Yeah, never being a net-head and having been perennially a skeptic about computers, still, when I went on-line for "Omni," I figured all the high tech would work beautifully. It'd be the psychic equivalent of the cities of tomorrow in all those '30s and '40s pulp magazine covers. I couldn't have been more wrong. You mentioned the sequel to CELESTIAL DOGS and that it'd be less graphic. What else is on the horizon? Any more short fiction? A story collection is always gravy. And do you think an out-and-out detective novel may be lurking without so much as a mutant virus or an Asian demon in sight?
MsgId: *omni_visions(54)
Date: Thu Mar 20 22:59:32 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
I'm not sure what novel #4 will be right now, though a straight detective novel is deinitely possible at *some* point. My story from DARK TERRORS 2 will be reprinted in Ellen Datlow's YEAR'S BEST in the US and there are a couple of other things likely to see print in the UK. The US is a tough room these days for horror.
MsgId: *omni_visions(55)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:00:49 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
I shoudl add that it is a crime that no US publisher has picked up the DARK TERRORS books. Not because I'm in one of them, but because Steve Jones and Dave Sutton have done a brilliant job and deserve a wider readership.
MsgId: *omni_visions(56)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:02:32 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
Do I understand rightly that you worked for a while as a detective in L.A.? Did you get to track down bad girls with bad lipstick in seedy bars on Melrose, or were you the modern operative tracking folks via the data bases?
MsgId: *omni_visions(57)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:05:53 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
The agency did insurance investigations, so I suppose that makes me Fred McMurray (from DOUBLE INDEMNITY *not* MY 3 SONS). Detective work is not very glamorous -- nothing at all like the fictional world. But it is pretty nasty. Lots of horroble people doing ugly things. Useful reference material, but unpleasant work. The lesson I learned, above all, is that there is no such thing as confidential information. Anyone can find out anything and for a *very* cheap price.
MsgId: *omni_visions(58)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:06:55 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Oh, yeah -- and the streets of LA *are pretty mean.
MsgId: *omni_visions(59)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:07:06 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Oh, yeah -- and the streets of LA *are pretty mean.
MsgId: *omni_visions(60)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:09:28 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
I'm also curious about your education background (speaking of cheap, easy-to-obtain information...and no I don't have access to your grade records). You've got a Ph.D. from USC in communication theory. Subtle or direct, have you drawn on this in your writing, or do you think it's put any kind of spin on your storytelling? It IS a pretty heavy credential.
MsgId: *omni_visions(61)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:13:13 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
That and 2 quid gets me a ride on the Tube. I did specialize in film/tv and pop culture in my academic work. A lot of that no doubt filters into The Business aspects of the DOGS plotline. Ultimately, my academic work was based on my love for pop culture and that devotion must show in the jokes and references in DOGS. The other way it has influenced me is that there is no more horrific experience in this world than being a grad student. Especially at USC. The academics I knew there were even scummier than the low-lifes I met through the detective agency. Anyone who has ever read about "parasocial interaction" will know *exactly* what I am talking about.
MsgId: *omni_visions(62)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:14:09 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
That and 2 quid gets me a ride on the Tube. I did specialize in film/tv and pop culture in my academic work. A lot of that no doubt filters into The Business aspects of the DOGS plotline. Ultimately, my academic work was based on my love for pop culture and that devotion must show in the jokes and references in DOGS. The other way it has influenced me is that there is no more horrific experience in this world than being a grad student. Especially at USC. The academics I knew there were even scummier than the low-lifes I met through the detective agency. Anyone who has ever read about "parasocial interaction" will know *exactly* what I am talking about.
MsgId: *omni_visions(63)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:15:21 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Shit, sorry about those duplications. But it is 4 in the morning here...
MsgId: *omni_visions(64)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:17:50 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
Hmm, I'd wondered if some of the BLOOD characters might be indulging from time to time in parasocial interaction... By the way, if any adventurous stateside editors are vultching tonight, check the book out (from Robinson's Raven imprint). It's very cool and has no U.S. sale yet. Changing topics abruptly... Do you want to blurb your web site? Is it still in business? And if so, what'll folks find there?
MsgId: *omni_visions(65)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:19:31 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
Lateral message: if my ace producer tonight, Rob Kilheffer, will do the honors, we'll open this up and anyone with a question can ask away. But be kind... Our guest is trying to stay awake in the UK.
MsgId: *omni_visions(66)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:21:19 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Yeah, it's there, though a bit primitive -- I have an ancient computer. The URL is http://www.sff.net/people/jrussell. There are excerpts from both books, my *very* nasty first soty sale from SPLATTERPUNKS, some non-fiction essays and a few other items. Anyone who hasn't checked out SFF-NET should do so anyway -- lots of great stuff for sf/f/h fans and lots of author web pages. And i need the hots so the number on my counter doesn't look so pathetic.
MsgId: *omni_visions(67)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:22:50 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
I may need the hots, but I meant "hits." You knew that. Also, BLOOD may not have sold in the US, but apparently it's just sold to France. So go figure.
MsgId: *omni_visions(68)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:24:39 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
And the "censored" prologue from BLOOD is also up on my site. Along with the story of why it isn't in the book.
MsgId: *omni_visions(69)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:27:16 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
Okay, no Jerry Lewis cracks. But I suspect that French pop fiction readers are perceived to have a more adventurous taste than what U.S. publishers think of their target audiences here. Hey, would Putnam pick up the "new Boris Vian"? Tor the "new Robbe- Grillet"? Norman Spinrad lives in Paris and gets along just fine, even if his French is toned just a bit by his never-lost Brooklyn accent. Question: do you ever get back to the U.S. for book PR, conferences, signings, or whatever?
MsgId: *omni_visions(70)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:30:05 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
In fact, the French publisher is launching a new horror line and is very hot for extreme fiction. Despite the fact that the French horror market has been cool of late, just like the US and UK. I applaud their bravery. I applaud their check even more (I'm probably jinxing the deal here). I get back to the States about once a year to visit family and friends. I'm afraid the DOGS launch doesn't quite merit a free ticket back on the publisher, so this may be as close as I get to a publicity tour. So where's the free booze?
MsgId: *omni_visions(71)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:34:02 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
I'll tell you what the PR budget is for this show... I'm sitting here with a dented can of tepid Diet Pepsi. But if you can live with delayed gratification, I'll be happy to buy you a drink if I happen to run into you on one of your trips back here. Here's what seems like a prosaic question, but I've gotta ask. A lot of the people who dial up this show are new or would-be writers. Could you offer some advice for same?
MsgId: *omni_visions(72)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:38:49 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Yikes. Don't do it! Okay, you won't listen to that, I know. The only advice that is of any value is: keep plugging. Sucks, doesn't it? There is no magic formula, so secret word. You need a basic level of talent -- which can be achieved with lots of practice -- and a certain amount of luck. There is nothing one can do about the luck. I got lucky in that Steve Jones, who was editor at Raven at the time, liked my stuff -- I sold it through the slush pile. It's a lousy way to do it, but it's a lousy way to make a living. So don't do it. But if have you have to, you will. And you only will if you *have* to.
MsgId: *omni_visions(73)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:39:20 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
And I'm gonna hold you to that drink offer, Ed!
MsgId: *omni_visions(74)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:41:57 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
Hey, all the rest of you out there? Any questions? Or is everyone listening to re-runs of Howard Stern? Time's running short. And Jay Russell, if you're winding down, feel free to slip away into the night (or early morning).
MsgId: *omni_visions(75)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:43:16 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Christ, is anyone actually "listening" out there? Thanks and commisserations if you are. I'll hang out to see if anyone's there.
MsgId: *omni_visions(76)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:44:40 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
You being wired into the pop world, has there been any film interest in your stuff? If not, who do you think SHOULD be? And tangentially enough, have you seen CRASH?
MsgId: *omni_visions(77)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:47:27 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
DOGS has been optined by Smith & Jones. Michael Marshall Smith (a terrific writer) has produced a brilliant screenplay and it is now being shopped around town. But it's an insane business and you can't expect anything to come of it. I have seen CRASH, which has been the subject of ENORMOUS controversy in the UK. I saw it at a flim festival and it has only just been licensed for general release, amid great uproar. I think it's very good and demands to be seen. Incredibly, it does the novel justice. And I would have sworn the novel could not be filmed.
MsgId: *omni_visions(78)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:49:38 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
I should add, for US residents, that the UK has absurdly restrictive censorship laws. Films are cut to ribbons here and there is an on-going moral panic about all things violent and sexual. Thus CRASH: the controversy.
MsgId: *omni_visions(79)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:54:28 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
CRASH is going into general release here I think in 8 days. Somehow an Easter weekend national release seems peculiarly appropriate. I'm not sure it can really be called a date movie, though that might depend on the kind of car one drove, and how one drove it... I wish the Smith & Jones version of your novel well. Michael Marshall Smith, I agree, is another splendid writer. He can be found in the aforementioned DARK TERRORS anthology; also his novel SPARES is coming out soon in the U.S. Here's a chance to be a tipster: aside from watching for your books and anthology appearances, who should we often internationally oblivious Yanks be watching for or seeking out?
MsgId: *omni_visions(80)
Date: Thu Mar 20 23:59:52 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Smith is going to be *big* -- SPARES is great, but his first novel ONLY FORWARD is absolutely brilliant. My other local fave -- who may not need a big plug -- is Kim Newman. I think ANNO DRACULA is the best horror novel of recent years. Certainly the most fun. He's really an SF guy, but Paul McAuley is another great writer -- very eclectic. And if people don't already know Nick Royle's short fiction, they really should. He's been anthologized everywhere, so perhaps he's already a familiar name. And if you like hardboiled detective -- Derek Raymond is one of the greats. Not a new writer -- he'd dead actually -- but beyond hard boiled. Is he known in the US?
MsgId: *omni_visions(81)
Date: Fri Mar 21 00:00:35 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Smith is going to be *big* -- SPARES is great, but his first novel ONLY FORWARD is absolutely brilliant. My other local fave -- who may not need a big plug -- is Kim Newman. I think ANNO DRACULA is the best horror novel of recent years. Certainly the most fun. He's really an SF guy, but Paul McAuley is another great writer -- very eclectic. And if people don't already know Nick Royle's short fiction, they really should. He's been anthologized everywhere, so perhaps he's already a familiar name. And if you like hardboiled detective -- Derek Raymond is one of the greats. Not a new writer -- he'd dead actually -- but beyond hard boiled. Is he known in the US?
MsgId: *omni_visions(82)
Date: Fri Mar 21 00:02:28 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
Just in the off chance the server cuts us off suddenly at midnight, New York time, I want to enthusiastically thank tonight's guest, J.S. Russell for joining us from the U.K. Be watching for his crime/horror/weirdness/funny novel CELESTIAL DOGS, coming any time now from St. Martins's Press. And join the show in one week for Jim Freund interviewing John Clute; and me again in two weeks when I talk with David J. Schow. 'Night.
MsgId: *omni_visions(83)
Date: Fri Mar 21 00:05:26 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
Thanks very much, Ed. Catch you at the bar!
MsgId: *omni_visions(84)
Date: Fri Mar 21 00:05:45 PST 1997
From: ed_bryant_mod At: 206.80.181.51
If we're all still on line, then thanks again, Russell. It's been a genuine please. And good morning. Get some sleep.
MsgId: *omni_visions(85)
Date: Fri Mar 21 00:07:23 PST 1997
From: J_S_Russell At: 158.152.231.9
I'm gone.
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