hit bookshelves in 1998. If I remember correctly, this was Clegg's sixth book, and I'd just taken the jump into his world.Needless to say, I adored the book. I ate it up and realized I'd discovered a new voice in the horror genre. Everything the man put out I snatched up and devoured. I've often said that horror fiction lacks an emotional core, or some emotional substance, and Clegg was providing that. The author was making his way up the list and into my heart.
In 1999, Douglas struck a real chord. Obviously in '99, I was still jotting notes and working on my "Great American Novel" - that one opus that would out-do all others. I'd not even ventured into the thought process of trendsetting or marketing. Although, I followed the marketing campaign of the "Blair Witch Project" that year. It was genius. It captivated potential viewers and followers with Internet sites dedicated the Blair Witch. The Internet was relatively new (as was the concept of everyone owning a computer) at this time. This was pre-facebook, pre-MySpace. This Internet thing was catching on. And Clegg saw something there.
In 1999 "Naomi" became the first publisher-sponsored e-serial book. This was HUGE. Look at the state of publishing today and you'll gather that perhaps this Clegg fellow was putting his own Nostradamus-esque quatrain out.
Already in 2001 I was anticipating the most recent Clegg release when the opportunity to meet the mastermind came about. I was working as an author liaison (attending conferences and arranging promotional "gigs" and signings for a network of indie bookstores), and received a call for help on a conference. It was something called "Horrorfind". There were "underground" authors galore - Mark McLaughlin, J.F. Gonzales, Brian Keene, Tom Piccirelli - and at the head of it all, Douglas Clegg.
I think that's why I adore Douglas Clegg so. He dabbles in dark fantasy, as well as horror fiction (though, there are fine lines there, I accept that). He has one of the largest fan followings online...and he actually interacts with them. Daily! He's put out electronic books that are meant to help aspiring writers market, or "buzz", their books (he does this, too, with his "Ask Me Thursday" series on Facebook). The man is, in all respects, one of the hardest working men in the business today.
I only spoke with Mr. Clegg briefly at Horrorfind, but he greeted me with a smile and a thank-you. I've followed the man ever since, more adamantly than before.
I had the distinct pleasure to ask a few questions about the craft, trendsetting, and the state of horror (which seems to be an ever present topic to me).
Eric Mays: Douglas, thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to chat. Speaking of that, you’re one of the hardest working writers I know. That’s not to say that other writers are not hard working. You just showcase it, I guess. You’re active on facebook with your fans. Some writers would argue that this is a distraction. You don’t seem to think so. How do you balance it all?
Douglas Clegg: Eric, first thanks for having me here.
Regarding your question, here's how I handle this: I do my facebook page when I'm either on the treadmill or exercise bike at home. My husband set up a great platform on both machines, and I can do email and other web surfing when working out.
I don't do this during writing time, but it can make a workout fly by.
EM: You’ve pretty much done it all, Douglas. In 1999, when the Internet was still a relatively new phenomenon, you released “Naomi” as an e-book, correct? That’s all the rage now eleven years later. You’re a trendsetter or you’re Nostradamus. What compelled you to take a story to the Internet at that point?
DC: I had nothing to lose. I didn't know where my career was headed. No one seemed to be using the internet well-enough for books -- except for a handful of us who are novelists.
So, I was trying to figure out how to get attention for my fiction without setting myself on fire near the seaside cliffs of Carthage. I sensed that the internet was going to change how we learned about everything. This was about a year before Stephen King launched his own ebook experiment.
A friend suggested I give away some short stories online -- and I thought, "It's as hard for me to write a short story as it is a novel. Why not just do a novel?" My then-publisher, Dorchester, offered to sponsor it, so I was able to pay for a website and some banner ads at horror sites -- which were very supportive.
And then, it turns out, no other novelist who had been published at houses like Simon & Schuster, Bantam Dell Doubleday, Kensington, Dorchester, etc., had ever done it -- and was paid by a publisher to do it. So that made business and publishing news, and then international news. It surprised me.
Back in those days, so many people were telling me I'd destroy my career by doing this. As it turns out, my career grew and it opened doors for me. And you're right -- now, a lot of writers and publishers are doing this.
But back then, a handful of people were breaking through with ebook and internet writing and marketing-- Seth Godin, who is a phenomenon, M.J. Rose, Angela Hoy, and web geniuses like Matt Schwartz, who is now at Random House and is -- in my opinion -- a powerhouse of a mind when it comes to the internet, books and writers.
EM: You write both horror and fantasy, and it seems to me that more and more, horror is dipping into the dark-fantasy genre. Do you have a preferred genre of the two?
DC:Your question got me to look at Neverland and see where it fits in genre.
The book is horror, but also dark fantasy in that there's an inner world of fantasy to the story. And it's also a suspense story. Some readers have called it a supernatural thriller.
How do you categorize that? Its first publisher called it "horror," but the current publisher sees it more as "dark suspense" or "dark fantasy." Genres shift in some ways, depending on how readers themselves look for it.
After all these years, I've realized I'm a writer of fiction that deals with the supernatural. I consider it "horror," but I'm old-fashioned in that usage. These stories include horror, fantasy, and suspense fiction. I've written in each of those areas, but the supernatural has played a part in each.
Horror fiction is fairly infinite in its variety, because it's the fiction of the subconscious mind -- which is the realm of gods and monsters. And fantasy fiction is also in that area, which is where the two genres can meet.
EM: Dealing with the fantasy genre, you wrote MORDRED, a fantasy that revisited the Arthurian mythos and placing Mordred in the spotlight. Some people have been put off by the fact that you made him openly gay. Why is it that homosexuality is still shocking in literature today?
DC: From the time I was a kid, I always felt Mordred was gay.
I had to believe that if Mordred was the enemy of the great King Arthur that there must be another side to that story, and another circumstance. Who, in the history of that myth, sympathizes with Mordred?
Well, I did. I wanted to show the road that might lead him to become the great enemy within the myth. And even great enemies have stories and battles within their own skin.
EM: Speaking of horror fiction…it seems the genre’s in flux right now. Some people argue that it’s never been better, but the other half argue to the contrary. I love horror, but I have to admit it seems to be recycled, lacking, and light on the scares. There’s a certain déjà vu to the stories I’m reading now. And, that trend seems to be dipping into horror movies. What’s your take on the horror genre and the evolution it’s going through?
DC:I don't have a take on it. I write the stories that come to me, usually from some deep well. I dip into that well and draw up the next story. Then, I work on it and craft it so that readers will connect to it.
That's all I really focus on. Genres shift and change all the time. Some of what I've seen in the thriller and romance genres lately was once called "horror." Used to be that Mary Higgins Clark -- who writes thrillers -- was always put in the Horror section. As times change, so do the genres -- at least in the way readers seek them or booksellers shelve them.
A writer who serves story will primarily be concerned with her or his own task. And that's where I am.
EM: One thing that you’ve always excelled at, Douglas, is the ability to place real emotions into the text (referring of course to emotions outside the realm of fear). Many horror writers don’t care to do that, and by reading what I read I’d wager that many horror publishers don’t care for that either. Why is an emotional core so vital for your writing?
DC: Emotion is part of being human. To write a character who has no emotional connection within the world in which he or she exists seems dishonest to me.
But writing emotions is very difficult -- you've got to be honest but also not go overboard or risk the maudlin rather than the authentic. It's a tightrope.
But then, so are other elements of story -- from setting to the rhythm of language to premise and meaning. A good and great storyteller manages to balance all of these things and still bring a story to life in an urgent and important way.
My goal is to create a story where all of it exists.
EM: One thing I ask of all horror writers: what frightens you?
DC:It depends on the day. I'm frightened in my irrational thoughts, but not by a lot else. I'm afraid for others -- I don't want people I care about to be hurt, I don't want animals to suffer, either.
I can be frightened by looming and often abstract terrors -- lightning or war or plane crashes -- but the likelihood is I'll die after I stub my toe in the dark and then hit my head on the back of the fridge as I trip over myself.
EM: Your latest book NEVERLAND is a reprint of a mass-market 1991 book. Before its release did you have a chance to revise, improve, edit the original 19 year old text? As a writer isn’t tough to revisit a text from a different time in your life?
DC: When Neverland first came out, I was still unknown to many, many readers. It came and went quickly in its little mass market paperback form, during the recession of the early 1990s, which coincided with the Gulf War. It was on the bookstore shelves for a few weeks and then went out of print fast.
But between then and now, fans grew up around my fiction, and then an expensive limited edition hardcover came out -- with about 400 copies in print, I believe. Might have been lower than that. And that sold out before it was even printed, so the fans for this novel kept growing -- yet it got harder to find in any form.
So, when Vanguard Press approached me about doing a trade paperback of the book, I was excited -- and went in with a red pencil to see if I could clean it up. There's a team at Vanguard that is fantastic to work with, and they loved this book.
I scoured the novel, cut slightly, cleaned up some sentences a bit. Not enormous stuff, but little things.
It wasn't tough to revise it at all -- what worked in the book was still there, but I'd learned more about the art of the story in the intervening years.
Revising is a joy. Writing it the first time around is the rough part.
And then, Vanguard Press created this beautiful trade paperback edition with those haunting illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne -- who also illustrated my story, Isis, and recently worked on some Stephen King projects. I was fortunate that Glenn could create these images. He's a genius, in my opinion.
EM: As I mentioned before, you’ve pretty much done it all – e-books, Kindle exclusives, reprints, how-to’s. I feel like you’ve got a good grasp on what works and what does not work…and well, let’s face it, the publishing industry is trying to figure that out right now. Where do you think books are headed?DC:I think ebooks are going to grow in use, but I don't think they're going to damage hardcover and trade paperback books. It may hit mass market paperbacks hard in the near-future, though.
But ultimately, none of us can predict what new devices and machines will reach the market in the next three to five years -- we may be reading from eyeglasses next, for all I know. In 1999, I wouldn't have believed that I'd ever be reading novels on my phone -- as I often do these days.
EM: The obligatory question: What’s up next?
DC: I've worked on several projects over the past few years. I've been spending a lot of time re-studying fiction and art and even music in a way to further understand structure and rhythm and premise in story. So this has been a time of incubation.
But I've been working on a fantasy novel, as well as a novel with an edge of horror to it about a summer house and college boys who converge on a family -- and then begin to skirt with criminal behavior until this leads to murder. But there's more to it than that.
I've also been revising a short novel I wrote recently that was serialized in Cemetery Dance Magazine. It's called "The Innocents at the Museum of Antiquities." It's set in Mexico City in the late 1860s, right after the Emperor Maximilian has been executed, and just before Benito Juarez returns to the city. It's about love and sacrifice and a strange little museum on the outskirts of the city.
I wish Douglas all the success in the world. And, I'm very grateful that he took some time out of the busy day to answer some questions. It's a real treat.
If you've not been there, definitely visit Clegg's website at http://douglasclegg.com/. His website has the official games for both "Isis" and "Neverland" (see, I'm telling you, there's the nothing the man can't do) as well as contests, bio, and so much more! Also, if you've not done so friend him (and "fan" us) on facebook. His "Ask Me Thursday" really is great. And, it's nice to see a celebrity interacting so much with fans. "Neverland" was one of our Must-Reads, so place that in your Amazon cart, or grab it at the library, or borrow it...just read it! Isis, too, if you've not read that one.
Next up on "The Authors Speak", we've got a profile of yours truly tomorrow as well as the one and only Christopher Moore. Stay tuned, kids, and keep reading.
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