Prime Time Replay:
Douglas Clegg
aka "Andrew Harper" on his novel Bad Karma
MsgId: *omni_visions(14)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:02:02 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
Okay, then; it's the top of the hour. Hello, everyone, and welcome to another edition of OmniVisions. My guest tonight is variously named Andrew Harper, the author of a crackling-fast new dark suspense thriller, "BAD KARMA," or Douglas Clegg, the author of such fine novels in the past decade as "GOAT DANCE" and "THE CHILDREN'S HOUR."A native Virginian (as is my guest in 2 weeks, Lucy Taylor), Douglas Clegg has lived in a variety of countries and cultures. Before publishing "GOAT DANCE" in 1989, he worked as a news researcher for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. He knows well how to lay in human characters and their interrelationships to his fiction.
He's published a couple dozen pieces of short fiction along with his books. Unlike a number of his colleagues in this field, he seems to be weathering the boom and busy cycle well. Also he seems to keep a very low public profile in this field. The new novel, "BAD KARMA," is about obsession, murder, and other bad habits on the part of a charismatic mental hospital patient pursuing a hospital staff member vacationing with his family off the California coast.
Doug, the air of verisimilitude is amazing. Did you work at a place like Darden State?
MsgId: *omni_visions(18)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:10:03 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Ed, I never worked at a Darden State Hospital, but I spent two years doing both casual and serious research with two different state hospitals in California before writing "Bad Karma." I find the state hospital system for the criminally insane fascinating, and I really love the notion of sociopaths.
MsgId: *omni_visions(20)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:12:23 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
Reader trust is important, and I trusted you as I read the novel. Would it be a correct assumption that all the hospital detail, and perhaps the incidents, were real?
MsgId: *omni_visions(21)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:14:38 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
The hospital detail was fairly accurate, and my killer, Agnes Hatcher, was certainly based on several different psychological profiles of sociopathic killers that have inhabited a few state hospitals.What I really wanted with Agnes Hatcher was to create a woman who was both fascinating and repellent, and I wanted to give her a past life in which she was vulnerable. I had fun with her world.
MsgId: *omni_visions(23)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:16:42 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
Any novel I read, I hope for at least a few indelible images. In "BAD KARMA," one of the most striking bits was Agnes Hatcher strapped to her bed with a cloth over her face so the staff didn't have to see her eyes. Any casting thoughts if Hollywood picks this book up? It'd be stretch for Anthony Hopkins.
MsgId: *omni_visions(24)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:18:24 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Well, to tell you the truth, Ed, I actually met the woman in a psych hospital with the thin gauze cloth over her face. They kept it on her much too long, because she was very good at "reading minds," and the orderlies hated that.I modeled Agnes physically on a romance novelist friend who is absolutely beautiful and very petite. I pictured her running amok on Catalina, and it all clicked for me.
Weirdly enough, I'd want Janene Garaofalo to play Agnes.
MsgId: *omni_visions(27)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:21:34 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
A lateral announcement... Tonight's guest on OmniVisions is horror and suspense writer Douglas Clegg. I'll be talking with him for an hour or so; then producer Ellen will open up the chat so that all who wish can ask questions.Well ... you may just catch Janeane Garofolo at the right point where she'll want a real change-of-pace vehicle. This would do it. I believe "BAD KARMA" is one of your optioned works. Are you at all interested in writing for the screen? You've lived and worked in Southern California, so you doubtless are familiar with the cultural mores...
MsgId: *omni_visions(29)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:26:01 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Ed,
Well, my horror novel, "The Children's Hour," was just optioned a few weeks back, and I've been brought on to write the screenplay. That's actually what I'm working on tonight "Bad Karma" is in development, and I really have no access to that process with it. But with "Children's Hour: The Movie," I've got some leeway, which is nice.Hope I'm not jumping in here too slowly. My browser and modem are not the fastest in the world.
MsgId: *omni_visions(32)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:30:46 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
Congratulations! With "THE CHILDREN'S HOUR," though, will be be facing stripping down the structure and wide spectrum of characters? "BAD KARMA" seems ideal for its screen adapter, whoever that might be, because it's quite a lean piece of work already.
MsgId: *omni_visions(35)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:34:26 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Absolutely. "Bad Karma" can be plunked down almost as a script -- it's that lean. "The Children's Hour" is much more dense, but I'm having fun going with the main story and cutting out a goodly amount of it. However, the director, Tony Randel (Hellraiser 2, among others) really connected emotionally with "The Children's Hour" and has already lined up the special effects people, etc. The script is going fine. I recently completed the first act. Now for act 2!But what's been fun about writing the screenplay adaptation of "The Children's Hour," is it puts me back in the world of a novel I absolutely love -- so it's quite pleasurable.
MsgId: *omni_visions(36)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:37:02 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
So I've gotta ask... Why the dramatic difference in stylistic approach between the new novel and your previous ones? Were you establishing a different writing persona for "Andrew Harper"? Or--?
MsgId: *omni_visions(40)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:41:39 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Ed,
My ego hasn't quite gotten big enough for a different persona -- but I'm almost there. Nope, Andrew Harper came about simply because I wanted to try something -- everything -- different. I wanted to add another name to the shelves, I wanted to write in a suspense/thriller area without having the bookstores necessarily typecast me in horror because it's a "Doug Clegg" novel (and I don't even know what a Doug Clegg novel is). And I wanted to just go with action, action, action. Which "Bad Karma" pretty much does.I had an editor at Pocket who, when I turned in a novel, said to me, "Doug Clegg would not write this novel." It sort of miffed me (the polite term) because I thought: "I'm Doug Clegg, and I DID write the novel." But she meant that Pocket Books did not want to use "their" Doug Clegg name for that book because it wasn't like my previous three. Oh well: publishing. What can you do?
The joy in writing is never in publishing, but in immersing oneself in the world of one's own fiction. At least till the book is done, then it's the last place you want to go again.
MsgId: *omni_visions(43)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:47:51 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
Well ... probably the best (and some would say most amazing) thing you do is to continue writing and publishing in a (perhaps temporarily, perhaps not) commercially difficult field. "BAD KARMA" came out under the Kensington imprint; you've got novels coming up from Leisure. There are those who note these are not Pantheon and Knopf. But Leisure is publishing you and Ed Gorman and Billie Sue Mosiman and Richard Chizmar and whole slug of others. Is this perhaps the only ambitious new horror/suspense publishing program in the U.S.?
MsgId: *omni_visions(45)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:50:52 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Well, I have other projects going to other houses, too, and another possible movie deal on a future project on the horizon, so I'm convinced that Leisure, while not the only game in town, actually has an editor in Don D'Auria who loves horror novels. That's what's missing from most publishing companies at this moment in time. Their spots are showing: many of these editors never loved a good horror read, but Don definitely does, and my novel with them, "The Halloween Man," due out Halloween 98, may just be one of my best novels.As a writer, I want to get published. But truth is, I want to have an editor who is simpatico with my vision. I've had a few who were: Linda Marrow at Pocket, Jeanne Cavelos and then Jacob Hoye at Dell, and now Don at Leisure. Kensington was terrific in many respects, but the editorial relationship has still not quite clicked. But I just go with the writing, and let my agent worry about the business end of things as well as where this stuff will land.
MsgId: *omni_visions(47)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:53:26 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
Will "THE HALLOWEEN MAN" be on the supernatural side, the dark suspense side, or--?
MsgId: *omni_visions(48)
Date: Thu Aug 21 22:55:25 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
"The Halloween Man" is essentially my "go for broke" novel. The horror novel business is not great for many writers. I decided with "The Halloween Man" to write not only the best novel I'm capable of, but to pull out all the horror stops, to put everything I know about life, liberty and the pursuit of terror in this novel..."The Halloween Man" is my stake at what I consider to be the Great American Horror Novel, and I have been as ambitious and world-creating in this novel as I could possibly be. Although it often seems like it, I don't write for the money, and I don't necessarily write for posterity. But I with "Halloween Man," Leisure is getting a hell of a book. And I'm glad they are. Their roster of authors this and next year are terrific, with Ed and Billie Sue shining examples of great storytelling, and I'm happy to be part of that.
MsgId: *omni_visions(51)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:00:37 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
Okay, then. If you don't write for the money or the posterity, then what? This might segue into the issue you raised with good editors being simpatico with your vision. Do you perceive a personal vision on beyond what's individual to a book? Do you see a vision for Doug Clegg that pervades your work?
MsgId: *omni_visions(52)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:03:45 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Well, let me clarify. I do write for money, just not "the" money ... but, I write because I would rather be in the fictional world I'm creating instead of the world that exists. When an editor shares that vision, it's like having someone go along with you on the journey. Actually, when a reader shares that vision, it's remarkable....And I'm not sure I see anything other than the vision of what I consider Heaven (to be a bit religious) -- that moment in a novel that's like a spark that erupts into a fullblown world. For me, in "The Children's Hour," it's the moment when Joe and his friends are kids and something life-changing happens to them. For me, in "Bad Karma," it's the moment we see Agnes as a child wanting to put on make up, but not being allowed to at home. I really believe that if I know the character as a child, then I will understand and appreciate them as adults. Just as I think we do with people we know -- how much easier it is to forgive someone when we knew them as kids.
I really love writing fiction, and as tough as it often is to get published, I still just keep writing and writing and let the despair disappear as I get into the worlds of fiction. I really believe I write to push myself into another state of consciousness. Crazy as that sounds.
MsgId: *omni_visions(56)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:11:35 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
Indeed -- though knowing a person's -- and a character's history -- makes adult tragedy, horror, and loss all that more affecting. I'd like to ask you about your short fiction. You've published dozens of stories -- and some mighty fine work, though I always circle around to your "LOVE IN VEIN" piece, "White Chapel," simply because it blew me away. Are you continuing to write at shorter lengths, and do you see a different esthetic at work than with your longer tales?Let me ask producer Ellen to open up the chat here. Anyone with a question, just use the box at the bottom of the screen, don't forget to hit "pause" before typing, and sign your message, please. Thanks.
MsgId: *omni_visions(60)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:15:44 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
If I could only write short stories all day, I'd probably be happier, but something in my nature leads me to longer projects. I loved the writing of "White Chapel" and I go back to the world of that story often, in my mind. I just wrote stories for two anthologies, although as usual, I can never seem to write to a theme. God knows I managed to have two stories that sort of fit the themes involved in the anthologies. But for every short story I've sold, there are another thirty in my files that I have yet to send out. I'm going to come off as an insane person saying this, but I'm always pleasantly surprised when someone buys my stories for an anthology or a magazine. I love 'em, but they seem so personal to me, it surprises me someone else does, too...
MsgId: *omni_visions(59)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:15:39 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 205.186.73.236
Hey Doug! Can you give us a hint about what "The Halloween Man" is about?
MsgId: *omni_visions(65)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:17:51 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Sure. "The Halloween Man" takes place near where I'm currently residing, on the Connecticut coast, and involves both a terrible tragedy on Halloween night, and also a terrible knowledge about where he is "from," emotionally and psychologically. That's as much as I'm going to tell, but the setting, based locally on Stonington CT, is terrific for horror.
MsgId: *omni_visions(61)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:15:47 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 38.26.18.224
Doug--What do you find to be the "core" of "The Children's Hour" that you are holding on to for your screenplay? Dave
MsgId: *omni_visions(67)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:19:47 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Dave,
The core of "The Children's Hour" in the screenplay is what I consider the core of the novel: both the literal and figurative loss of childhood and the darkening of life towards adulthood: Patty's disappearance, the mystery surrounding it, and Joe's return to Colony, West Virginia. But ultimately the core is the terror of reconciliation. LOL
MsgId: *omni_visions(62)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:16:23 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.205.151
Doug, I heard from a book store clerk that your old titles may be rereleased. Any word on this? My mom stole my copy of "GOAT DANCE" and I'd love to get another one!! Cyndy
MsgId: *omni_visions(69)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:21:21 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Cyn,
Regarding re-releases, I'm hoping this happens, but I'm not sure when. Certainly the demand for "Goat Dance" increased dramatically in the past year, and I'm not sure why. But "Dark of the Eye" and "The Children's Hour," even though a few years old, are both still available.
MsgId: *omni_visions(68)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:21:05 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 205.186.73.236
Doug -- Who were your favoite authors? And who do you think is really worth reading these days. Lauren
MsgId: *omni_visions(71)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:23:37 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Lauren,
My favorite authors are mainly dead, but of the living, I like most horror novels I read, particularly the ones by King, Koontz, Barker, Bentley Little, Edward Lee, Elizabeth Engstrom, Kathe Koja, Ed Gorman (suspense), and others. I like a lot of fiction in my life! Who influenced me the most? Probably Nathaniel Hawthorne and Guy de Maupassant and Peter Straub and ... hmmm ... Stephen King ... and Tom Tryon ... all of em!
MsgId: *omni_visions(70)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:22:15 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.207.36
Doug, you seem to find horror so easily in every day life, which seems to be a key element in involving the reader in your horror. How do you come up with your ideas? Beth
MsgId: *omni_visions(73)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:25:16 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Beth,
First off, I need to recommend two novels for people to read here. One is called "Cold White Fury" by someone named Beth Amos, and one is called "Pilots Die Faster" by CW Morton. Both, riveting reads. Second, what was the question?
MsgId: *omni_visions(63)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:16:40 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 198.83.18.58
Congratulations, Doug! Is there an approximate release date for either of your movies? Jo Lady
MsgId: *omni_visions(72)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:24:03 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 206.21.251.66
Heya Doug. Is Bad Karma going to be in paperback any time soon? -- Butch
MsgId: *omni_visions(75)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:27:01 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Jo -- thanks for asking. No idea on the movies -- hey the script isn't even finished for "The Children's Hour!" LOL.Butch -- the paperback of "Bad Karma" comes out in February 98 and is supposed to be 200,000 copies strong!
MsgId: *omni_visions(74)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:26:50 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 205.186.73.236
Doug -- Having read "NEVERLAND" I can see a lot of Straub in the writing (yet your voice still remains strong) but is there a little Bradbury as well? I was also wondering about your choices of names like Gramma Weenie and Aunt Cricket (are these people from your past?). Lauren
MsgId: *omni_visions(77)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:29:33 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Lauren,
"Neverland" is possibly my most autobiographical novel. Having said that, my parents never drank. But maybe they should've ... I grew up partly in the South, and used to visit a wealthy family down on Sea Island, off the Georgia coast. I based much of "Neverland" on my adventures there, but in many ways "Neverland" is also my homage to Arthur Machen and Saki. You'll find them there, if you look. I used to know a Cricket, and my Grammy was not named Weenie, but I've known Rowenas who were called Weenies.Lauren, btw, the whole Rabbit Lake incident -- an island of pet rabbits gone wild -- actually was at this one island I was at. It was amazing -- little white bunnies and yellow duckies from too many Easters, all living on this tiny island.
MsgId: *omni_visions(76)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:29:19 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 206.21.251.66
Doug: How do you think your travels have impacted the way or things you write? -- Butch
MsgId: *omni_visions(78)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:31:19 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Butch,
I think my travels have done well for my writing because they've given me a broad base of meaning for the word "home." I feel at home almost anywhere I go. In many ways, my family have been nomads, and the longest we stayed anywhere was in Virginia, but other than that I traveled and lived in four states before I was four.
MsgId: *omni_visions(80)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:32:26 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Not sure if I caught everyone's questions. Ask again if I missed one or more. I appreciate y'all coming.
MsgId: *omni_visions(82)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:33:47 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 38.26.18.224
Doug -- I'm curious about whether you felt frustrated working in news when, I assume, there was a prejudice against you spinning imaginative yarns. Did the news work help your fiction writing at all? Imponderable One
MsgId: *omni_visions(87)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:35:51 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Imponderable one,
If news were not full of spinning tales itself, would we watch it? Working in the newsroom taught me that anything can seem personally real if someone you trust is telling you the story. Trust is often in the voice, and the level of confidence. These actually helped me find my voice of trust within myself in order to tell a passable yarn.
MsgId: *omni_visions(79)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:31:52 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.207.36
Doug, my earlier question to you involved your ability to find horror in everyday life. Any secrets as to how you do that? Beth
MsgId: *omni_visions(88)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:37:32 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Beth,
Here's the technique for finding horror in everyday life: just wake up in the morning. That usually does it for me (and I'm not even trying to be flippant here)
MsgId: *omni_visions(81)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:32:39 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
Doug, do you expect to stay in this place broadly defined as horror?
MsgId: *omni_visions(89)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:39:33 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Ed,
I really do intend to stay with horror, but I'm also writing non-horror fiction as well mainly because I want to expand the definition of horror beyond the ghost or monster book. I think a love story can have a horrific "moment" that can influence the rest of the tale. But I really love horror fiction, and I firmly believe that I will somehow plow through to the next century with horror novels and short stories published right and left.
MsgId: *omni_visions(86)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:35:47 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.205.151
Doug, is horror really a separate genre? Or do the techniques work in just about any type of book? Cyn
MsgId: *omni_visions(90)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:41:09 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Cyn,
I think fiction that is horrific crosses genres, but publishers don't always believe that. I also believe that my "true calling" is in horror, but my talent is in fiction. So I am writing both inside and outside the genre, as the stories I write dictates.
MsgId: *omni_visions(85)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:34:40 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 207.79.35.26
Doug -- Since you've always been openly realistic about the publishing end of the writing biz in interviews, how much time do you think an unpublished writer should be putting into the marketing end of things? -- Rich L.
MsgId: *omni_visions(92)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:43:23 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Rich,
Bottom line is: you can only write your best if you want to succeed as a writer. I am convinced against all odds, that a good novel will find both publisher and audience, one way or another. First thing I'd do is finish a novel, make it the best novel you would want to read, and then start querying agents with it. Best of luck on this, as it's a difficult business, but writing is itself a kind of reward.
MsgId: *omni_visions(97)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:47:22 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 207.79.35.26
Doug -- How refreshing to har you say that. Finally someone who actually believes in writing a book of quality first instead of proposing to write one all the time. :-) Rich L.
MsgId: *omni_visions(99)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:50:03 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Rich,
Thanks. Now, write that novel! Or short story!
MsgId: *omni_visions(91)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:41:44 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.205.151
So what IS horror, if not monsters? Cyn
MsgId: *omni_visions(94)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:45:38 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Cyn,
Horror to me is not the monster. The monster is a creature like many other creatures that threaten existence. I think horror is the expression of the voice of existence that can't be expressed through language. This is why HP Lovecraft (in my opinion) hit a vein with his Yog Sothoth, etc, because it was a language beyond language -- it was the realm of the unknown, and the unknown is always accompanied for us with fear.
MsgId: *omni_visions(93)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:45:11 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.207.36
Doug, what are the best, and worst, parts of the writing life for you? Beth
MsgId: *omni_visions(96)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:46:52 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Beth,
The best part of the writing life, besides royalty checks, is that I don't have to leave my house most of the day, and I don't have to take a shower till mid-afternoon or later.
MsgId: *omni_visions(95)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:45:53 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 38.26.18.224
Do you think horror can be done effectively on television? Clamato 8
MsgId: *omni_visions(98)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:48:05 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Clamato:
Sometimes. I thought parts of the first half of "Intensity," the tv movie were scary. When I was a kid, I saw "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," and "Dr. Cook's Garden" and "Something Evil" and "Games," and I thought they were terrifying...
MsgId: *omni_visions(102)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:50:53 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
This is weird. I can't really see much here, other than a list of your questions. I'm in a little box. This is scary!
MsgId: *omni_visions(100)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:50:17 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 205.186.73.236
Doug -- But what about authors like Jack Ketchum? When I read "The Girl Next Door" I felt like it changed me (it is hard to describe the effect to someone who has never read the book. The monsters that Ketchum uses tend to be those next door. And, in the case of "TGND" children. Do you feel that you will ever embrace this "could happen" type of horror or do you prefer adding an element of fantasy? Lauren
MsgId: *omni_visions(103)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:52:20 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Lauren, This is because you haven't picked up "Bad Karma" yet. "Bad Karma" takes place in the real world, imho, at least as real as a fictional world can get. You oughta try it. BTW, "The Girl Next Door" is one of my favorite novels.
MsgId: *omni_visions(101)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:50:34 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.207.36
Any thoughts on the current, and future, state of the pubishing business? WriteBeth
MsgId: *omni_visions(105)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:53:31 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Beth,
Yeah -- the future of publishing -- it will be my empire! I will conquer and vanquish the barbarians at the gate and -- wait, I'm ONE of the barbarians at the gate!
MsgId: *omni_visions(104)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:53:13 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 207.79.35.26
Doug -- Just as soon as I get all of these poetry and zine projects out of the way. :-) I've always thought of you as having a very wry sense of humor. Where do you stand on having humor present in films like "RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD?" Do you think humor and horror can work effectively with one another?
MsgId: *omni_visions(108)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:55:45 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
I think humor and horror can work, but I am not a fan of doing this much in my own writing. I really take all of this far too seriously. I believe -- for the duration of each of my novels and stories -- that I am telling a story based on an imaginative reality. While I loved "Return of the Living Dead" as a movie, I'd never be able to write the novel equivalent. I get immersed in the fictional world, and it is deadly serious to me while I'm in it. So much for my sense of humor!
MsgId: *omni_visions(106)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:54:34 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 205.186.73.236
Doug -- The Andrew Harper threw me. It is on the top of my shopping list. Do you find yourself influenced by horror movies? When I write I really find images from the Italian cinema appearing on the page. Lauren
MsgId: *omni_visions(110)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:57:42 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Lauren,
"Bad Karma" bears my Andrew Harper pen name. It's a lean suspense thriller, certainly horrific in parts, but with a very human monster. But still, the horror is beyond language -- not in the murders that take place, but in the world in her mind which my killer occupies.
MsgId: *omni_visions(111)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:58:19 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 38.26.18.224
Tough question. Are there any writers whose popularity mystify you? HW
MsgId: *omni_visions(112)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:59:59 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
HW,
Not really. There are writers whose advances at publishing companies mystify me, but not the popularity of some writers.
MsgId: *omni_visions(109)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:56:23 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
As we start to wind down toward the top of the hour, I want to mention a lengthy, meaty print interview with Doug Clegg conducted by Wayne Edwards. It's in the spring issue of Richard Chizmar's fine horror magazine, "Cemetery Dance." Available at specialty stores and chains. Or write to CD at Box 190238, Burton, MI 48519. It's a good view.Thanks to all of you who've been sending in questions. But slow down, times mighty short, and it's late for Doug on the east coast. We should wrap soon.
MsgId: *omni_visions(107)
Date: Thu Aug 21 23:54:54 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.207.36
OK, so you confidence tonight is obviously high. What makes it fall? Or does it? Beth
MsgId: *omni_visions(114)
Date: Fri Aug 22 00:01:30 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Beth,
Days when I can't get work done make it fall. Waiting for paychecks make it fall. A bad review ain't too good for it, either.
MsgId: *omni_visions(117)
Date: Fri Aug 22 00:03:29 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 205.186.73.236
Doug -- Is there anything we can look forward to before "THE HALLOWEEN MAN" next year? A special edition perhaps? Or maybe even a reprint of "Goat Dance?" Lauren
MsgId: *omni_visions(119)
Date: Fri Aug 22 00:04:57 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 198.83.18.81
Lauren,
Nothing in the works actually! Sorry! I was hoping a collection of stories would be out, but that's delayed. Thanks for asking.Thanks all for showing up! I appreciate all the questions!
Ed and Ellen--
Thanks for having me!
MsgId: *omni_visions(121)
Date: Fri Aug 22 00:06:07 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 205.186.73.236
Thanks for answering all my questions. Keep up the good work! I have to get to bed for work tomorrow. Goodnight Lauren
MsgId: *omni_visions(122)
Date: Fri Aug 22 00:06:16 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.69
I hate to be a wet blanket now that the party's really blasting along at full gale force, but I'm gonna have to. Thank you very much, Douglas Clegg! You've been a great conversationalist with everyone. And for the rest of you, thanks for the questions; check out "BAD KARMA" in hardback if you've got the budget (the byline's Andrew Harper); the paperback'll be out in February '98. And be anticipating "THE HALLOWEEN MAN" from Leisure in October 1998. And thanks to producer Ellen for running things tonight in exemplary fashion.Check in with Jim Freund in one week for a talk with M. John Harrison ("SIGNS OF LIFE") and with me in 2 weeks for a conversation with Lucy Taylor ("PAINTED IN BLOOD"). Good night, all.
MsgId: *omni_visions(123)
Date: Fri Aug 22 00:08:08 EDT 1997
From: Douglas_Clegg At: 198.83.18.81
Goodnight!
MsgId: *omni_visions(124)
Date: Fri Aug 22 00:08:41 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 207.79.35.26
Doug -- Thanks for answerig my questions. I'll see you on "the list" later. Thanks also to Ed and Ellen. This has been wonderful. Rich L.
MsgId: *omni_visions(125)
Date: Fri Aug 22 00:09:15 EDT 1997
From: EllenDatlow At: 38.26.16.36
Ed, Doug, everyone who popped in with questions: thanks all, for coming. And to all a Good night.
Home || Prime Time || Live Science || Machine Dreams || Project Open Book || SF-Fantasy-Horror
Continuum || Antimatter || Mind-Brain Lab || Interactive IQ || Gallery || OMNI ToonsQuestions, comments and suggestions can be mailed to the webmaster.
Copyright © 1998 by Omni Publications International, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.