The Purgatorio Dialogues – Meet the Writers of Purgatorium Part II

Welcome to day two of my interviews with the writers from Purgatorium. Today, I’m featuring Pat Flewwelling and Tobin Elliott. Together, with Connie Di Pietro and Dale Long, they make up the staff of ID PRESS. Pat had me laughing out loud in places. Especially when she spoke of her fear of flying and then let me know she was boarding a plane (sadly, I’m quite certain her fear amped up yesterday…as she experienced several delays at the airport prior to boarding said plane). What can I say about Tobin Elliott? Nobody makes me cry as often as Tobin does. He’s like that phone commercial that breaks you down and leaves you bawling and surprised that a 30-second vignette could cut you so close to the bone. He’s a funny guy…but he writes with an emotional poignancy I myself could only dream of owning. Even his Facebook updates often have me swallowing through the lump in my throat. Yes…a couple of his responses here left me in tears. Something in the way he writes…

Pat, Connie, Dale, and Tobin

The Proust Questionnaire was not penned by Proust, but rather made famous by him. It was a personality questionnaire that Proust famously answered in the most delightful of ways, and often. It was his answers to the question that caused the questionnaire to take off and become a favourite form of interview…it even had a life as a parlour game of sorts. I find that it reveals a lot about a person…it invokes personal insights as well as personality, sense of humour and one’s beliefs, etc. This questionnaire I composed is not entirely the same as the Proust version, but a lot of the original questions remain intact. Enjoy today’s insights into the minds of Pat and Tobin, two of the ten writers featured in PURGATORIUM!

Purgatorio Dialogues – III – Pat Flewwelling

Pat Flewwelling (Photo courtesy of the author)

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Letting go.

2. What is your most preferred genre as a writer?

Anything but Westerns, Romance, and Poetry.

3. What is your greatest fear?

Flying. I go a little crazy before and during every flight. Like…I need to gnaw on people and scream and stuff, that kind of afraid. I hate flying.

4. What is your most preferred genre as a reader?

Non-fiction and mystery.

5. Which horror writer do you most admire and why?

Nancy Kilpatrick, because she’s not afraid to tell a new writer the painful, honest truth, without being discouraging – but as an editor, she is also willing to give new, unknown writers a chance.

6. What was your idea of horror prior to setting off on this adventure into Purgatorium?

That it was an easily maligned, but not easily defined, genre. It should, at the very least, make me shiver at the profoundness of the human soul – either as profoundly evil, or profoundly defiant in the face of utter horribleness.

7. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Temperance. All things in moderation, including moderation.

8. What is your idea of horror now that you’ve been to Purgatorium?

Horror doesn’t have to go to extremes – neither all-scary, nor all-gory, nor all-demonic/paranormal. Sometimes horror can use a soft touch.

9. What else have you written?

Three dark fiction novels (Helix: Blight of Exiles, Helix: Plague of Ghouls, and Helix: Scourge of Bones), two dieselpunk novels (The Fog of Dockside City series), a crime/biography (Judge Not), and a smattering of short stories. Those are the published ones, at least.

10. When and where were you most afraid?

Depends on your definition of “afraid”. If you mean anxious to the point of running away, the answer is “Any time I’m in Costco on a Saturday afternoon.” If you mean, jump-scared / ran away / screamed like a little girl, then it would be that time I tried to clean my first fish, and it wasn’t as dead as I’d thought it was, and it jumped clean off the plate, flapping tail-to-mouth in the air. If you mean “afraid for my safety”…that seems to be the times when I’m most focused and self-controlled, so I guess I would have to say, “n/a”…?

11. Which talent would you most like to have?

Is tact a talent? Because I’d like to have that. Mind you, I find talent overrated. If a talented gymnast won gold every year without hardly trying, and this other “talent-less” but hardworking gymnast won silver for the first time in sixteen years, I’d applaud the one who won silver.

12. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

I’d like to come back as the incarnation of bad luck. I don’t know why I said that. I blame the lack of coffee. But it’s amazing what bad luck can do for you sometimes. A flat tire could save you from a five car pile-up.

13. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Convincing yourself that you can’t – and don’t deserve to – change.

14. What are your three deserted island books?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (aka Blade Runner, Philip K. Dick); The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Howard Pyle); The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).

15. Who are your favorite writers?

The ones I’ve met in person. Well, most of them, anyways. Also, Raymond Chandler, Sam Thomas, and Ellis Peters.

16. Who is your hero of fiction?

Brother Cadfael. Crusader turned sailor turned Benedictine monk / gardener and sometimes murder-solver. He’s completely anti-noir because he looks for the good in humanity, despite war, murder, profiteering, etc., and knows the value of a peaceful place.

17. What sound grates on you more than any other?

Power tools. Any power tool. Literally any. If they had faces, I would punch them.

18. How would you like to die?

Quickly, purposefully, and in saving someone else.

19. What sound brings you deep joy?

The overall harmony of nature in the morning, deep in the interior of Algonquin Park.

20. What is your motto?

Video et taceo. For the record, it was also Queen Elizabeth I’s motto, and it is not Latin for Netflix and tacos.

On the Web, PAT can be found:

Pat Flewwelling

TWITTER

Purgatorio Dialogues – IV – Tobin Elliott

Tobin Elliott (Photo courtesy of the author)

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Perfect happiness is having my family around me, lots of books to read, good friends who love me unconditionally, and my pets. Preferably on a lovely fall day.

2. What is your most preferred genre as a writer?

I love the horror genre, but it’s finding the horror in the everyday things. To me, the monster isn’t scary unless it’s in a position to take something cherished away from my human characters. A realistic character reacting to the loss of a lover or child or parent is more terrifying than a monster that bites his neck or kills him.

3. What is your greatest fear?

Not being able to be there for those I love. Whether that’s due to a debilitating terminal illness, or death, or just not being available when one of my kids or my wife really needs me. I never want to let down those that need me most.

4. What is your most preferred genre as a reader?

Oh damn. That’s tough. I love good horror, probably because I find it so rarely. But I also can say the same for good science fiction, or thriller, or crime drama, or mystery, or non-fiction books. I read constantly and widely, so for me it’s less about genre and more about the quality of the experience.

5. Which horror writer do you most admire and why?

Also a tough one. I admire Stephen King simply because he’s bucked the odds and become not only the most popular modern author, but he did it writing a much-frowned upon genre. But I also have great admiration for Jack Ketchum because no one—absolutely no one—has affected me like he did with some of his writing, particularly The Girl Next Door.

6. What was your idea of horror prior to setting off on this adventure into Purgatorium?

From a reading standpoint, usually something involving a supernatural element. I love my vampires and werewolves and demons. From a personal standpoint, it was—and remains—the answer to #3. Our greatest fear is always that thing that inspires the greatest horror.

7. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Physical beauty. Yes, I like attractive looks, just like everyone else, but I despise how they often give the person a pass to be an absolutely deplorable person and get away with it. I’m looking at you, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton. Beauty fades, but the ability to be empathetic and honest and funny and loyal are forever.

8. What is your idea of horror now that you’ve been to Purgatorium?

Finding the horror in the everyday. As I said above, I love my vampires and werewolves and demons, but nothing matches the horror of a parent or role model who is more of a monster than any of them could ever hope to be. So, a bit more of a dovetailing of greatest fear and horror.

9. What else have you written?

I’ve written some ugly stories about awful people doing terrible things. I’ve had three novellas published through small presses, as well as a couple of short stories in anthologies. All are horror. But I’ve also written three interconnected horror novels and collaborated on a dark fantasy novel involving the Four Horsemen, a God who is mad (and angry) and the Biblical Apocalypse. Oh, and some blogs that made people laugh.

10. When and where were you most afraid?

Well, there was a time in Algonquin Park when a bear attacked our camp for about an hour and the only thing between it and my twelve-year-old tasty flesh was tent fabric. But I think the most terrified I’ve been…well, to be honest, I can’t even talk about it. That’s not a cop out, it’s the truth.

11. Which talent would you most like to have?

The power of persuasiveness. I’d love to be able to guide people to make better choices. From small things like helping my kids, to larger issues like preventing things like gun violence, racial crimes, sexual attacks, and better leadership for the countries of the world. As the old Coke commercial said, I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.

12. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

Probably a cat that my daughter would own, because I know I’d live like a freaking king.

13. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Losing a loved one. No question. Because there is no lowest depth when it comes to that.

14. What are your three deserted island books?

I hate this question. Still, I’ll play your silly reindeer game…

The Shining – Stephen King

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle – David Wroblewski

Boy’s Life – Robert R. McCammon

15. Who are your favorite writers?

Stephen King, Jack Ketchum, Dennis Lehane, Robert E. Howard, Elmore Leonard, John Skipp & Craig Spector (when they collaborated), Douglas Adams, Harlan Ellison, Harper Lee, Ray Bradbury, J.K. Rowling, Carsten Stroud, David Wroblewski, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Chris Claremont, Warren Ellis, Terry Moore, Brian Michael Bendis, Garth Ennis, . And a bunch of others that I likely can’t think of off the top of my head.

16. Who is your hero of fiction?

You’re killing me here. Sorry, I’m going to have to stray from books because I tend to default to a character in a television series. Benjamin “Hawkeye” Pierce as played by Alan Alda in M*A*S*H always wins for me.

If I need to go from the written word, I’d likely choose Danny Torrance, the young boy from The Shining. There’s a lot that I can identify with in him: an abusive, alcoholic father who could never say no to his demons, a mother who desperately tries to swim the current of her husband’s madness and keep both her own and her child’s head afloat, and Danny himself, walking through the corridors of a manmade hell, doing all he can to understand and navigate away from the horrors…

17. What sound grates on you more than any other?

Anyone whining. Drives me absolutely batshit.

18. How would you like to die?

That’s an odd question. Would anyone really like to die? Not so much. Nor do I, and as I get older, the thought intrudes more and more as my mortality makes itself known. But if I have to go, I want to go out with those I love around me, and everyone laughing and joking and telling their most embarrassing or stupid stories about me…god knows there’s a lot of them.

19. What sound brings you deep joy?

The sound of my wife or kids saying they love me. The purring of my cats. My dog’s yipping in his sleep as he dreams. Wind through the leaves. Rain. The strange muffled silence after a snowfall. The Beatles. Pink Floyd. Heart. Boston. David Bowie. Cheap Trick. The Eagles. Steely Dan. Billy Joel. Elton John. Tom Petty. The Electric friggin’ Light Orchestra. And…absolute silence.

On the Web, TOBIN can be found:

Tobin Elliott

TWITTER

Don’t forget to ADD PURGATORIUM TO YOUR GOODREADS SHELF!

Watch this blog for more Purgatorio Dialogues! Six more to go!

The Purgatorio Dialogues – Meet the Writers of Purgatorium Part I

I recently had the idea of interviewing each of the writers you will find within the pages of the upcoming horror anthology, PURGATORIUM. The first thing that came to mind was the PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE and how much fun it always was to read the way people would respond to some of the questions on it. So, I cribbed from the list of questions on the questionnaire, keeping some of them intact, removing some and adding some of my own that would relate to the experiences the respondents would have had in writing in general and in writing for the anthology in particular. (I’m so good at writing run-on sentences, aren’t I!?)

There are ten of us in the anthology. I will eventually share all the Proustian Questionnaires here. I thought I would begin with the principles of the newly formed ID PRESS, which is the press bringing PURGATORIUM to the marketplace. Today, I thought I would share the responses I received from Connie Di Pietro and Dale Long. Without further ado, I bring you the slightly altered Proust Questionnaires of Connie & Dale…but we’ll just go ahead and call them the PURGATORIO DIALOGUES. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did! For me, reading their responses made me realize just why I chose these lovely people as friends.

Purgatorio Dialogues – I – Connie Di Pietro

Connie Di Pietro (Photo courtesy of the author)

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

My idea of perfect happiness is the comfort from the warm sun on my back, toes in the sand, rolling waves and my children’s laughter. My music, mornings spent writing, evenings spent reading, and a table surrounded by friends and family enjoying a wonderful meal together.

2. What is your most preferred genre as a writer?

Not sure I have any one preferred genre. I do have those which I’d find difficult to attempt to write in, because I don’t read them. I do love the dark and twisted.

3. What is your greatest fear?

Waking up and finding that all my fingers had been lopped off and my tongue pulled from my mouth.

4. What is your most preferred genre as a reader?

This, like the above, is difficult…as my reading is varied. But dark and twisted always does win out.

5. Which horror writer do you most admire and why?

Stephen King, because he isn’t afraid to bend his genre and go beyond the traditional horror of blood and gore. Andrew Pyper is also a very generous man with his time and talent in helping those of us who are just learning how to climb the ladder.

6. What was your idea of horror prior to setting off on this adventure into Purgatorium?

I had a fairly good grasp of the genre. I have been given the title Queen of the Macabre.

7. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

hmmmm….virginity.

8. What is your idea of horror now that you’ve been to Purgatorium?

Same as it’s always been, there are so many varying degrees of horror. And sometimes the most horrific are the most realistic.

9. What else have you written?

Besides my cupboard filled with shelved stories, I’m currently working on the 2nd book of a trilogy about witches who travel through time trying to find their way back home in a time when witches were persecuted. I have another novel that is currently being shopped by my agent at The Right’s Factory. I have a short story in another anthology

10. When and where were you most afraid?

I was born in 1971. In 1973 my parents brought us to the drive-in theater, second billing was The Exorcist. That’s right…I stayed up in the back watching it. Still have quite a vivid memory of that. It took me deep into adulthood to watch it again without an afghan over my head as I peered through the knitting. And yes, you did the math right. I was 2 and a half, to be exact.

11. Which talent would you most like to have?

Pole-dancing. Imagine the shape I’d be in!!

12. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

I’d like to come back rich and beautiful, because this whole nice thing doesn’t pay the bills so well.

13. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Seriously, the lowest depth of misery is treating others unfairly, unjustly and with inequality. It must be a very sad existence to think that you are better than everyone else around you.

14. What are your three deserted island books?

The Red Tent, The Secret (because I need the universe to get me off of the island), and Little Women.

15. Who are your favorite writers?

Anita Diamont, author of The Red Tent and Day after Night, Stephen King, and the Brontes….I know they are 2.

16. Who is your hero of fiction?

(Not answered)

17. What sound grates on you more than any other?

Whining and fighting….I do have 4 kids.

18. How would you like to die?

Never thought of dying much and my preference in the matter of which I would die, but I’d have to say in my old age while I slept after a wonderful meal surrounded by all my friends and family. I’d also like to know I would/could be in control of my own mortality.

19. What sound brings you deep joy?

laughter

20. What is your motto?

Teach Peace

On the Web, CONNIE can be found:

Connie di Pietro

TWITTER

Purgatorio Dialogues – II – Dale Long

Dale Long (Photo courtesy of the author)

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

The waves at my feet, Wings on the BBQ, margarita in hand, surrounded by friends and family.

2. What is your most preferred genre as a writer?

Genre? GENRE?? We don’t need no stinking genre!

3. What is your greatest fear?

Death.

4. What is your most preferred genre as a reader?

Anything that is exceptionally written.

5. Which horror writer do you most admire and why?

Mary Shelley. For starting it all off, for writing horror in a time when women weren’t seen as credible writers, for living through what she did.

6. What was your idea of horror prior to setting off on this adventure into Purgatorium?

Running out of charcoal.

7. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Success/fame. Are those virtues? In today’s age they seem to be.

8. What is your idea of horror now that you’ve been to Purgatorium?

Running out of charcoal and margarita.

9. What else have you written?

Middle grade ghost stories, old fashioned Christmas “scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago”, Humour short stories, life stories (eulogies), post apocalyptic science fiction and some fantasy.

10. When and where were you most afraid?

The day my wife got diagnosed with cancer. Sitting in the doctor’s office. It felt like the world cracked open and threatened to swallow us.

11. Which talent would you most like to have?

To cure stupidity and ignorance.

12. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

*censored*

13. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Misery always has a lower depth.

14. What are your three deserted island books?

How To Build A Boat Out Of Sand by Neil Degrasse Tyson, Cooking with Coconuts by Deb Rankin, How To Make a Radio from Palm Trees by MacGuyver.

15. Who are your favorite writers?

All the writers in and around Purgatorium. I admire the ones that didn’t make it into the anthology for their grace and for putting themselves out there.

16. Who is your hero of fiction?

Each time I open a well written book, that character becomes my hero of fiction.

17. What sound grates on you more than any other?

The noise made when a Know-it-all opens their head hole.

18. How would you like to die?

I don’t like to die. Ever.

19. What sound brings you deep joy?

Hearing my daughters sing when they don’t know I am listening.

On the Web, DALE can be found:

Dale Long

Twitter

LIKE ID PRESS ON FACEBOOK

ADD PURGATORIUM TO YOUR SHELF ON GOODREADS!

More Purgatorio Dialogues to come! Stay tuned!

Life is Change – Writing Outside the Comfort Zone (Purgatorium Comes)

purgatorium2 — The Jester’s Court Restaurant in Port Perry, Ontario, is housed in what is presumably one of Canada’s most haunted establishments. It was a fitting place to unveil the beautiful cover for the upcoming HORROR ANTHOLOGY —> PURGATORIUM!

Last night I had the extreme pleasure of being a part of a new and exciting creation. When you’re a member of one of the world’s most vibrant writing communities, these opportunities rise up often. They begin as a kernel of an idea, and then people jump on board and they blossom into real tangible things. When a group filled with creative vitality comes together, magic can happen. I witness that all the time as a member of the Writers’ Community of Durham Region WCDR.

ID Press is comprised of 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse…er, um…I mean 4 members of ‘THE BAD TABLE’. (Photo courtesy of the publisher)

Last year, the idea of creating an anthology of stories rose up out of the din of what a group of WCDR members affectionately refer to themselves as THE BAD TABLE. It was Connie De Pietro who came up with the original kernel. With much excitement, the idea was tossed and bandied about until it was formed into an actual possibility. And then creativity happened.

From the first idea came the writing of and the submission of a collection of short horror stories. For some of us, it was an introduction to a genre we had not yet explored as writers. This was, in fact, a part of the original concept—STEP OUTSIDE YOUR ZONE OF COMFORT. As writers, we are constantly striving to better ourselves. One way to do this is to try something new. With a collection of dark storytellers at the helm, the horror concept was formed and it was eventually the premier genre that the group chose to run with.

Fast forward several months and ID PRESS (GO LIKE THEM ON FACEBOOK) rose up from the gossamer darkness that encapsulated THE BAD TABLE of WCDR members who sit at the back of their monthly ROUNDTABLE MEETINGS causing chaos and upheaval in the otherwise well-behaved room. From the chaos comes a well-oiled fine-tuned machine. And you know, I wouldn’t want to sit anywhere else. We’re rambunctious and giddy and loud…but these things are often needed in the formation of creative endeavors. I’m proud to sit among my friends in writing.

A Glimpse of the Cover for PURGATORIUM, an Anthology of dark stories…coming soon from ID PRESS.

What I loved most about the original idea was the forced capitulation from the comfort zone. All writers should try this occasionally. In fact, all creative people in any media should try it. It injects fresh blood into one’s creative process. One never knows until I tries. Growth can only happen with change.

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” ~ Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. The more things change, the more they stay the same. UNLESS you turn them on their heads. So cometh the horror!

To step into a genre you have never before written in is a terrifying thing. But we’re writers, right? It’s not like we are chemists working with a new element just recently discovered in the deep quagmire of a distant planet’s molten sea. Even if we do struggle and squirm in our attempts to explore the new genre, whatever the outcome, it most likely won’t result in our death. We will come out on the other end of the experience with new knowledge and new appreciation for the genre. Whatever that genre may be. As writers, it is important that we never disqualify or belittle a genre simply because we ourselves do not write in it. They are all important, they are all appreciated by the readers who love them.

I just had to include a friend selfie here! Mel and I at last night’s PURGATORIUM cover reveal get-together at Jester’s Court in Port Perry. Writer friends are the awesome!

If you’re a writer reading this blog right now, do yourself a favour. Think about a genre you would never in a million years imagine yourself entering into. Go to your local library and pick up a book in that genre. Read it. Listen to the way the story is formed, take note of the genre’s quirks and nuances. And when you’re finished reading the book, or several books in that genre, sit down and write. Give the genre a go. You’d be surprised not only by how difficult it is, but also by how easy it is. The elements of writing are the same across genres…it’s the elements of the genre that make the experience one of growth and enlightenment. You’re a writer…you already know what goes into making a good story. You just have to manipulate the way of thinking you have in your genre of choice in order to make yourself fit into the genre of the experiment.

If you attempt this genre-swapping experiment, you may discover a whole new appreciation for a genre you previously largely ignored both as a writer and as a reader. You may even discover a new genre to devour as a reader. What could be better than that?! I have always found that if I try something new I’m usually not disappointed. This is true of slipping into the reading of a genre I usually don’t explore. Change is good. Life is change.

The folks at THE BAD TABLE had an idea. And we ran with it. I am extremely thankful for the engine behind this idea—the smaller group among us who stepped forward as captains of this vessel of creativity. Because of them a simple idea took off and became a wondrous thing that we will soon unleash upon the world. I will share more details of this upcoming anthology as they are released. For now, I would just like to personally thank the powerhouse behind making an idea a tangible thing that I will soon be able to hold in my hands. A thing with a breathtakingly gorgeous cover (soon to be revealed) that I am extremely proud to be a part of. Thank you Connie, Tobin, Dale, and Pat. You are deeply appreciated. Your efforts and talents and vision are deeply appreciated. You are all the fire that burns in the depths of our Purgatorium, as well as the phoenix that rises from the ashes of that creativity fire.

PURGATORIUM! It’s coming!