I read the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift. I read all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King. Alistair MacLean was always a favorite.
Would you say your childhood and teenage reading has had a distinct influence on how you write fiction now, and why?
I don’t know if it was what I read, but simply the fact that I was reading, as much as I could. Writing is probably an extension of that.
Pick one of your favourites among your fiction stories or a story which is an interesting example from your fiction. What makes this story one of your favourites or an interesting example of your fiction?
Atomic Supernova (which is currently being developed as a film) is one of my favorite stories. The sherrif, his partner, the brothers at the scrap yard – the way the whole story comes together. I feel like I got it right in that one.
Who is another author whose fiction writing you admire and why?
There are a lot of authors I admire – all of the writers I teach with at the Stonecoast MFA Program, including Rick Bass from Montana. He’s a great writer. David Plante should be read by everyone. George Pelecanos really writes a good story. I just received some books by a new press, Blasted Heath (blastedheath.com), and I’m very impressed, especially with Anthony Neil Smith’s All The Young Warriors.
How would you summarise one of your short stories in one paragraph?
Hundred Proof is the story of two men dealing with violent murder in a rural upstate New York setting.
How would you describe the appeal of this short story to readers?
The story Hundred Proof is spare and dark and readers have asked me about the last scene, which I explain below.
How would you summarise a scene or sub-section from this short story in one paragraph?
This is the last scene from Hundred Proof:
“That’s the bottle I took from outside my daughter’s house in the spring,” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “I remember.”
“She didn’t drink Southern Comfort,” he said.
“Okay,” I said.
“So after it happened, I talked to Brian’s brother about it. He called me, actually. He’s a corrections officer too. Hadn’t spoken with him in years. And yesterday, he came over here and talked to me.”
“What did he say,” I said.
Jerry held up one finger and went into the house. He came back out with a full bottle of Southern Comfort, and poured himself a fresh full rocks glass. He reached into his pocket and dropped a handful of bullets onto the picnic table. They were round-nose bullets with gray heads and copper-colored shell-casings. He picked out five of the bullets and put them in the rocks glass full of booze. Then he spoke.
“Brian’s brother told me he heard three guys talking in lock-up, bragging about how they got away with something in the spring. About how all they drink is Southern Comfort.”
“How do you know it’s them?” I said.
“I don’t,” he said. “But I’m going to talk to them tomorrow morning.”
I stood up. “Jerry,” I said. “I know you’re hurtin’, but I’m not getting in that kind of trouble again.”
He looked at me. He held out his hand and we shook. “That’s alright,” he said.
I started to walk to my truck.
“What if he’s setting me up?” Jerry said to no one. “I’ve prayed for my own death. You’re a liar if you say you haven’t.”
He was sitting in a lawn chair by the picnic table, drinking a glass full of booze with bullets and ice in it.
How would you describe the contribution this scene or sub-section makes to the short story?
The picture of the man sitting there, drinking liquor with ice and bullets in the glass seems to have stayed with readers and that’s precisely what I’m looking for. It’s a dark, disturbing image. As hard-boiled noir as it comes.
Do you aspire to primarily write novels in the future, or are you more interested in writing short stories, and why?
I have novels coming out in the near future and will publish another collection of short stories soon as well. My collection Controlled Burn is coming out in paperback in November. Short stories and novels interest me equally. I have a short story coming out in the next issue of Noir Nation.
Do you read many short story anthologies, and why?
I always read the Best American volumes, probably because of my long affiliation there. My stories have been selected seven years in a row for the Best American Mystery Stories, the most consecutive appearances in the history of the series. Last year, my story Controlled Burn was selected for Best American Noir Of The Century, one of only fifteen living authors to be included, so that was a big honor.
This year, I read a lot of short fiction for The New Guard, where I’m a fiction and special sections editor. TNG has a great short fiction contest (and poetry contest as well) with a $1,000 prize. Shanna McNair – the founder, chief editor and a terrific writer as well – has a special literary genius and The New Guard is developing a very solid following, both in the US and internationally.
What lengths of short stories do you usually write, and why?
The lengths of my short stories vary, some running as long as seventy-five hundred words.
Do you submit for many short story competitions, anthologies and magazines, and what are your main motivations for this?
Sometimes editors will ask me to be an anthology. My story Hundred Proof just appeared in the anthology Crimefactory: The First Shift, out from New Pulp Press. I was asked by one of the editors, Keith Rawson, to contribute. So it usually goes like that. I always try to make my stories good enough to be considered for the Best American series. My goal is always to write the best story I can. It’s all about the stories for me.
Author website: newguardreview.com
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