Prime Time Replay:
Charles L. Grant
on his novel In the Mood and the anthology
Gothic Ghosts
MsgId: *omni_visions(7)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:01:21 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.9
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to OmniVisions for October 16, 1997. I'm delighted to welcome tonight's guest, Charles L. Grant, the author of about a bazillion novels, not to mention his short fiction, nonfiction, and all the anthologies he's edited.Charles Grant is closing in on his 30th anniversary as a professional writer. He's won a variety of awards, including the Nebula. He got well-deserved World Fantasy Awards for his 1982 collection, "NIGHTMARE SEASONS," and for editing, specifically the 1978 SHADOWS volume. Earlier this year saw the Tor publication of his novel "SYMPHONY," the first in a series of 4 apocalyptic novels about the onset of the new millennium. In about two weeks, Tor will publish "GOTHIC GHOSTS," a new anthology of original horror tales edited by Wendy Webb and Charles Grant. Hi, Charlie, and welcome to OmniVisions.
MsgId: *omni_visions(11)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:07:14 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
Hi, Ed. This is going to be interesting (in the Chinese sense, I think). It's taking quite a while to refresh the screen, so please be patient. Sigh.
MsgId: *omni_visions(12)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:09:56 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.9
Is patience being a virtue an eastern maxim? Ah, well. Charlie, in an earlier conversation we were talking about what it's like being a quarter century beyond qualifying for "new writers" panels at conventions. Do you acutely feel the passage of time? Do you feel like an official Old Fart?
MsgId: *omni_visions(13)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:12:27 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
Not really. The only time I pay attention to my age is when I look in the mirror (no cracks,please, I'm sensitive). But, to he honest, I really didn't think I'd last this long. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I just figured I'd go by the wayside long ago.
MsgId: *omni_visions(14)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:15:21 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.9
The way I figure it, you've got another good quarter century left. At least. When I first encountered your work, you were publishing such outright science fiction novels as "SHADOW OF ALPHA" and "ASCENSIION." Why'd you start off in sf, and what triggered the sea change to the darker literary climes of so much of your horror and dark fantasy?
MsgId: *omni_visions(15)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:18:16 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
To make a long, boring story short, SF was where the markets were, and I was an sf reader, so it was only natural to start there. Of course, I had no grounding in science, failed chemistry in college twice, but this was also the time of so-called "soft" sf, so I managed to fit in. For a while. At the same time, I was also a huge horror movie fan. Val Lewton, stuff like that; and a mystery novel reader. So while I write sf novels, I also wrote horror short stories and, magically, sold them. Odd, but the first story I sold was a horror spoof. Lionel Fenn lived even back then.(ellen was right; aol takes forever) Anyway, when the sf dried up (ie, I ran out of an admittedly shallow store of ideas, I was left with what was my first love anyway -- horror. Life is tough, ain't it.
MsgId: *omni_visions(18)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:26:07 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.9
You've got quite a list of titles in horror -- as well as a hefty amount of recognition. Conventional wisdom is that horror is dead, dead, dead. To what extent do you agree (or disagree)? And to what do you attribute your longevity in this area of fiction?Here's a lateral announcement. I'll be talking with our guest tonight, Charles Grant, for another half hour or so; then we'll open up the chat so that any and all can join in the conversation. So get your questions ready!
MsgId: *omni_visions(20)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:30:09 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
Oh, please -- horror dead? It was never alive. As a viable category, that is. That's an artificial slot publishers used in hopes of making a buck. Until they discovered what we'd been telling them for years -- there isn't a horror category and never was. Before, "horror" was published as thrillers, supernatural thrillers, etc. and usually showed up on the general fiction shelves. Where it belonged. I suspect, and only suspect, that those who proclaim horror dead do so because . . . never mind. That way lies madness.I really don't know why I've lasted so long. I guess because I must write pretty well and tell a fair story. You'd have to ask the folks who buy the books that one. Although I might add that since I still love what I'm doing, and have a hell of a lot of fun doing it, it must show somehow. (shrug).
MsgId: *omni_visions(22)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:36:40 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.9
The new novel, "SYMPHONY," deals with the first horseman of the apocalypse, Death, in your millennial quartet. A fair amount of the novel is concerned with matters of faith. Is spirituality a specific interest for you?
MsgId: *omni_visions(23)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:39:35 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
It was in that book. The preacher is modeled after my dad, an Episcopal priest (his beliefs, not his size; that comes from Johnny Cash). Besides, it's difficult (for me, anyway) to write about The End Days (maybe) without spiritual overtones. The second novel, "IN THE MOOD," deals with Famine -- in more ways than one.The idea is, that the Apocolypse, while it may have world-wide ramifications (you know -- earthquakes, floods, fire, all that jazz) is, at the same time and more importantly, intensely personal. This is why I haven't littered the landscape with zillions of bodies, as other similar books have done. When it comes (if it comes), believe me, you're not going to care what happens in France. It's your home and the people you know you'll be concerned with.
MsgId: *omni_visions(25)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:44:39 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.9
In the novels, great. But outside in the world, do you put stock in the western signficance of the turn of century and millennium? Are you stockpiling canned goods and good rag-content paper?
MsgId: *omni_visions(26)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:46:46 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
Damn right. Campbell's bean soup, Broadcast hash, a zillion cans of Dr Pepper. If I'm going out, I'm going out in style. Oh, and don't forget the Chunky bars.
MsgId: *omni_visions(27)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:49:54 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.9
I think I can tell from your people in your fiction that you've got a fine grasp of human psychology -- and you know how people interact with each other and with their environs, no matter how bizarre. But when you write about the supernatural. . . Are you faking it, or do you have some belief?
MsgId: *omni_visions(28)
Date: Thu Oct 16 22:54:08 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
Faking it? What an insult. Well . . . maybe a little. To tell the truth, I don't discount anything out of hand. Except maybe stupid vampires searching for love and the elixer of life. Let's put it this way -- the house I live in is haunted. Period. And when I'm writing, I believe what I'm writing, otherwise, how could I make it as real as you say I do? Rule of Grant's Thumb: if I don't give myself a shudder when I'm done (story or novel), I don't send it out.As the hero in my new series, "Black Oak" (plug, plug) says, more people are from Missouri --s how me. But when you're walking down a dark street at night, and you think you hear something behind you . . . you don't have to be shown. You know. Whether it's there or not is beside the point. If you think it is -- it is.
MsgId: *omni_visions(30)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:00:01 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.9
I regularly read your column in Rich Chizmar's fine magazine, CEMETERY DANCE. I think more than once you've taken people to task for euphemistic language, for PC terminology. Is this kind of behavior in the arts (or Real Life, for that matter) one of the things you'll fix right quick when you gain Immense Power?
MsgId: *omni_visions(31)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:04:11 EDT 1997
From: EllenDatlow At: 38.26.14.134
Just want to let you know I've opened the room door. If you have questions, please remember to press "pause" and wait a second or two before typing in the box and also, please sign your name at the end.
MsgId: *omni_visions(32)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:05:11 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
Come the Revolution . . . absolutely. When I take over, you either get a sense of humor, and perspective, or you'll be shot. As I've said a million times, I am not hearing impaired, damnit. I'm mostly deaf in one ear, and to soft-pedal that with a more "sensitive" term is insulting. And dangerous. To be more graphic and to the point -- rape is not sexual abuse. It's rape. Vicious and horrible. To call it otherwise not only demeans the victim, it makes the perpetrator seem less horrid. Yike. You pressed a button. Sorry.
MsgId: *omni_visions(33)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:08:26 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.9
Do you think you're in a minority of writers who feel this way? Are most of us 'way too "polite"?
MsgId: *omni_visions(34)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:13:37 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
I don't think it's being "polite". I think it's riding current trendy wave instead of sitting on the beach watching the wave crash. One after the other. Minority? I don't know. Lord, I hope not. Because, at the end, it's less a matter of being PC than it is debasing the language. Our primary goal, as writers, is to communicate. Story, ideas, whatever. We debase the language, we can't communicate. Simple as that. And, paradoxically, not so simple (your Zen moment for the evening).
MsgId: *omni_visions(35)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:16:51 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.9
Here's a question that was forwarded to producer Ellen: I was excited to hear that Mr. Grant will be on tomorrow, but I cannot make it!!! This is really frustrating because I have this burning question to ask him: Can he confirm or deny the rumors that is he is writing or has written a "STAR WARS" novel for Bantam Spectra? Specifically, I was told that he has written a prequel to Steve Perry's "SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE" and that it will be published as the spring hardcover for 1998. I would really appreciate it if you could relay this question to him. Thank you!
Good Luck, and mtFbwy, a Kris Boldis/GhentZ, Jedinet Librarian
http://www.geocities.com/1974/
ghentz@geocities.com
MsgId: *omni_visions(36)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:18:43 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
Nuts. Caught. Yes, I am doing a Star Wars novel. Not a prequel, however. Just in the same universe type thing. It will, though, be spooky. It has to be; otherwise, they've got the wrong guy.
MsgId: *omni_visions(37)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:25:11 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
Yo! Anybody out there? (it's so lonely) Somebody doesn't start talking soon, I'm gonna start singing.
MsgId: *omni_visions(40)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:33:18 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.11
Sorry -- error messages, all that mysterious stuff. Anyhow. Before things fall apart again: what have you got coming up in the future? The new series? More anthoologies? What's the skinny?
MsgId: *omni_visions(42)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:35:58 EDT 1997
From: EllenDatlow At: 38.26.14.134
I just got a finished copy of "GOTHIC GHOSTS" from Tor today and it's a beautiful package. Congratulations. You're lucky to get such a great looking book.
MsgId: *omni_visions(43)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:36:17 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
First -- hey, Emmy, Ian, you there? And if you're there, why are you here and not studying?
Sorry -- my kids, who may or may not be eavesdropping at their respective colleges.New stuff -- first, a new series, open-ended, called "Black Oak," from ROC. I'm tempted to say that it's what they wouldn't let me do at X-Files, and its' better, but I've too much class to say that. Next, the second book in the Millennium Quartet will be out in late January. Called "IN THE MOOD" (I seem to be stuck in a music motif here).
"Black Oak #1" -- Genesis, by the way, will be out in May. I'm working on the second one now. More anthologies? Boy, I sure hope so. I'd forgotten how much fun they were. I owe Wendy Webb a lot for getting me back in.
For you German fans out there, I have two books appearing only in Germnay -- two novels based on "The Burning Zone". And me and Timothy Boggs are trying to get Berkley to do more Hercules novels. Especially the one about the two folks who are chasing UFCs (Unidentified Flying Chariots) all over Greece. I think that's it. No short stories, though. In fact, I haven't written one in well over a year. Ah well.
MsgId: *omni_visions(46)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:39:45 EDT 1997
From: EllenDatlow At: 38.26.14.134
Can you give us a little idea as to what "Black Oak" is about?
MsgId: *omni_visions(48)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:44:56 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
"Black Oak" is about Ethan Proctor, a man who owns an investigation agency, who is hired to find the daughter of Taylor Blaine; the girl has been missing for 13 years. He, Proctor, also gets involved with spooky stuff -- monsters, maybe aliens, things like that. What he doesn't know is that there may, in fact, be a Purpose behind everything. And I mean, everything. Each book will have one complete story in it, plus continuations of other stories, plus new stories that will continue in other books. I am having one hell of a ball doing this, I might add.
MsgId: *omni_visions(49)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:46:44 EDT 1997
From: EllenDatlow At: 38.26.14.134
Sounds like fun. And complicated, to write and keep track of all the threads and overlappings.
MsgId: *omni_visions(50)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:49:34 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
It IS fun. And yes, it is complicated. But for the first time, I'm actually keeping track of things. Usually, I haven't a clue what's going to happen in a story. I just write it to see how it turns out. This is a new experience for me in that regard. But the more I get into it, the more I like it. I just hope the readers buy enough copies for me to finish it all.
MsgId: *omni_visions(51)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:51:29 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.18
Hi, I'm back (fingers crossed -- so this is why the server gets the big bucks!). Before time's up, I wanted to ask about Lionel Fenn. He's a funny guy. And his fiction's pretty humorous too. Have you got any more avowedly funny stuff up your sleeve?
MsgId: *omni_visions(52)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:51:30 EDT 1997
From: EllenDatlow At: 38.26.14.134
Can you project how many volumes you want it to be? I mean, do you have an idea of the story arc and how you want it to end yet?
MsgId: *omni_visions(53)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:56:01 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
Okay: Lionel Fenn. I have a zillion ideas left. Okay, maybe a dozen or so. I keep hoping funny fantasy/horror will come back so I can write them. Otherwise, it all goes into the Lionel Fenn/Kent Montana newsletter called "HAGGIS" (another plug). Anyone want to see one, contact me at ChasGrant@aol.com, make me an offer, I'll see what I can do."Black Oak:" I "see" at least 8 books, maybe 10. And for a change, I know exactly how it ends. And no, I ain't saying. But trust me, it isn't going to be cute little skinny guys with shiny black eyes holding hands for world peace.
MsgId: *omni_visions(54)
Date: Thu Oct 16 23:58:43 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.18
Finally -- and I apologize for my fragmented participation these past minutes -- there still seem to be plenty of eager, usually younger, writers who want to write weird fiction. Any advice for them? And you, Charlie, where do you see yourself in another decade or two? Statesmanlike?
MsgId: *omni_visions(55)
Date: Fri Oct 17 00:03:24 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
Young writers -- read! Everything! Not just horror, but everything! It's the best way to learn how to write. And in horror, read the classics. Otherwise, like so many new and no longer around writers, you'll only be reinventing the wheel, and not doing it all that well anyway.Me? If, in ten years, I'm still going what I'm doing -- writing what I want and getting paid for it -- I'll be happy. No kidding. If nothing else, it'll mean I've done something right all these years. Statesmenlike? Yeah. Right. I expect I'll still be ticking people off. And that'll make me happy too. As Lionel is fond of saying: Life's a scam, and then you're Spam. Amen.
MsgId: *omni_visions(56)
Date: Fri Oct 17 00:07:13 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.18
Thanks, Charlie. Thanks very much! And for the rest of you, check out the newest Grant novel, "SYMPHONY" (Tor Forge), and ditto for the new Charles Grant/Wendy Webb original anthology, "GOTHIC GHOSTS" (Tor). Contributions from the likes of Nancy Holder, Kathryn Ptacek, Lucy Taylor, Matthew Costello, and many, many more. Support anthologies. Support good novels. Tune in next week when Jim Freund interviews Harvey Jacobs ("AMERICAN GOLIATH"). Two weeks from now, I'll have a conversation with Tim Lucas ("THROAT SPROCKETS"). Again, thanks to Charles Grant, my producer Ellen, and all the rest of you. Good night.
MsgId: *omni_visions(57)
Date: Fri Oct 17 00:09:59 EDT 1997
From: EllenDatlow At: 38.26.14.134
Thanks Ed, Charlie. Just want to mention that Jim Freund will not be hosting next week -- he's on vacation. Instead, the charming Jenna Felice will be interviewing Harvey Jacbobs. See you all next week out there in cybespace.
MsgId: *omni_visions(58)
Date: Fri Oct 17 00:11:06 EDT 1997
From: CharlesGrant At: 152.163.206.87
'Night all. And thank you.
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