Random Musings with David H. Burton
Interview with Permuted Press Author - Brian Easton
Over at Permuted Press, they’re releasing some great new books, especially some dark, apocalyptic fiction. I’m going to be doing some interviews with a few of the authors/editors there so I hope you’ll take the time to check out their work. Last week I interviewed author, Kim Paffenroth. Today, please welcome author, Brian Easton.
To start, can you tell me a little about yourself?
Well, I'm originally from a small town in southern Illinois. My father was a minister, as was my grandfather, my brother, two uncles and two cousins – this is my pedigree. My exposure to spirituality and faith-based phenomena cultivated a lifelong interest in the religious systems of the world, but it was the occult that I've spent more time studying than anything. In 1984 I began a research campaign into the occult, and majored in socio-cultural anthropology to that end. I'm also obliged to tell you, lest anyone think I've spent my life with my nose in a book, that I've trapped wild boar in Tennessee for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, been a cowboy in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains, and worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad across Colorado and Utah.
How long have you been writing and how did you get to this point in your career?
My mother gave me her old manual Royal typewriter when I was about ten years old. I immediately tore out a piece of spiral bound notebook paper and wrote my first story on it. I was a "monster kid" in the 70's. I loved the Wolf Man and Frankenstein and the Mummy, so that's what I wrote about. Oh, and I made whole typewritten comic books of my own super heroes.
In my twenties I decided to compile a bunch of my short stories into a three-ring binder. I cleaned them up, filled in the gaps and called it a book. By the time I was 30 years-old I'd written six manuscripts with the same characters and ongoing story. I sent some of them to random publishers, not knowing then what we all know now, that publishers ignore unsolicited manuscripts. It wasn't until 1999 that my girlfriend (now my wife) encouraged me to get serious about my writing. She introduced me to Print-on-Demand Publishing. The costs were minimal compared to what I'd seen from vanity presses, and I thought that if I could just get my stuff out there maybe a publisher would notice me and offer to take me on. I ended up self-publishing two novels, first in 2003 and again in 2008, and they both won Independent Publisher awards. Last year Permuted Press contacted me and offered me a contract for both books, so I guess the plan paid off.
You have a new book coming out, Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter. Tell me what inspired you to write this?
Autobiography is the first book I was telling you about, except it used to be called: When the Autumn Moon is Bright. Remember those homemade comic books I mentioned? One of them featured two monster-hunting superheroes, a werewolf hunter and vampire killer. I've always been infatuated with werewolves, so I think it was only natural that I developed the Werewolf Stalker character. He became Sylvester Logan James, the central figure of both books.
I think my earliest inspiration for a werewolf hunter goes back to my father, because he absolutely hated the whole idea of werewolves. I remember when I was nine or ten; I had Power Record's "The Curse of the Werewolf," one of Marvel Comics old 70's horror titles. I was listening to the 45 and following along in the comic when my dad overheard the narration and turned off the phonograph. He didn't like all the talk of curses and evil, and he saw the werewolf as a hateful, demonic creature, so he confiscated the record. I still remember the conviction in his voice as he explained to me why I couldn't listen to it. It didn't stop me from liking those things, but it made a lasting impression.
I have a keen interest in dark fiction. Tell me how you would classify this novel and what’s dark about it?
Dark is my middle name, and this book (and its sequel) definitely falls, four-square into that category. In fact, one reviewer said the sequel was, "Much, much darker in tone than the first book in this series, though you wouldn’t think that could be possible." As far as I'm concerned, dark fiction is about more than a high body-count, and gratuitous violence just doesn't cut it; you have to create and sustain an atmosphere. As I see it, there are two basic sources of darkness – the world we see and the one we don't. Some horror novels use crime and human depravity to create their darkness; others focus on supernatural entities and powers. What I've tried to do is merge that human corruption with those diabolic agencies, and showcase the dark side of everything from religion to relationships. The book is written from Sylvester's point of view and Sylvester has a very haunted and dark-turned mind. Sylvester harbors an internecine hatred for the Beast (werewolves), the kind that burns people up from the inside. It's the very foundation of his life, and that by itself makes for a frighteningly dark world.
You quoted Nietzsche when you described the main character to me. He sounds complex. Tell me about him.
Yes, I was referring to Nietzsche's quote: "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you." This describes Sylvester's condition to a tee. Because here's a man who has always wanted to be honorable and decent, and yet can't really afford to be because he has this blood-feud with the Beast. He goes through periods where he accepts his own evil as a necessity, and then turns around to resume his struggle to be something better than he has become. I think that's what keeps the character, anti-hero that he is, from becoming an all-out villain…he may do horrible things but he is never at peace with them. If a protagonist loses the readers sympathy, it won't be long before he loses their interest as well, and when that happens they stop reading. This is the most delicate line I have to walk with Sylvester, and the idea behind it is that even a bad-guy can be a hero if he's going against someone or something even viler than he is. That gives me some latitude with the character because I see the werewolf in the same terms my dad did. It also gives me a chance to pit the two kinds of darkness against one another.
This blog is called Random Musings, so give me a random quote from the book – something you’re particularly fond of.
This is the piece I used for the frontispiece of the book before it was re-issued:
"What are we running from, Logan?" Samantha shouted through her tears. "I'll tell you everything later—I swear I will! But please don't ask me now. Just hang on to Josh." The road to the cottage was patched with ice, and despite the truck's four-wheel-drive capability, I could feel the tires slipping. I slowed down as much as I dared. A single peal of metallic thunder rumbled from the roof of the cab as it buckled inward. Samantha screamed as the truck fish-tailed side to side, narrowly missing the embankments. My fight with the steering wheel was handicapped by the Colt, which I refused to release. The windshield had split into a "V," and the maddening screech of talons against painted steel made my blood run cold. I regained control of the truck, smashed the .45's barrel into the overhead bulge and pulled the trigger. The report exploded inside the cab and shattered the back glass, but it didn't stop a demon's claw from bursting through the roof! As the monster fished for prey through ruptured steel, the truck careened out of control. Sam huddled with Josh against the passenger door. Her eyes were ablaze in terror at the sight of the werewolf's groping limb. I fired in repetition at the arm and the more vital areas at the other end of it, covering the upholstery in a steaming blood bath. The road ahead curved, but the truck continued its broadside slide. There was neither time nor opportunity to react as the earth dropped off beneath the wheels. The last things I was aware of were upside-down trees, and Samantha crying out my name."
What can we expect from you next? Is this the beginning of a series?
It is. As I've said, Permuted Press contracted with me for my first two books. The second, Heart of Scars, should also be available this year. I have a third installment in the series in mind, but I won't be starting on that until the first two are up and running again. Beyond that I want to do a prequel that covers the life of Sylvester's mentor Michael Winterfox.
Who would you say your primary literary influences are?
HP Lovecraft is by far my most prolific literary influence. He remains the only author I've read who has the ability to get under my skin and into my head. On the other hand, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy is my favorite book of all time and represents my other favorite genre: the western. Cormac writes extreme violence as if it was verse, and depicts scenes of atrocity with such grace that it's almost poetic.
———— Brian, this sounds right up my alley. Congratulations on finding your way to a great publishing house (I hope I get that lucky!) and thanks again for taking the time to answer these questions. I certainly hope I can have you back for the next book in the series!
Interview with Permuted Press Author - Brian Easton
Over at Permuted Press, they’re releasing some great new books, especially some dark, apocalyptic fiction. I’m going to be doing some interviews with a few of the authors/editors there so I hope you’ll take the time to check out their work. Last week I interviewed author, Kim Paffenroth. Today, please welcome author, Brian Easton.
To start, can you tell me a little about yourself?
Well, I'm originally from a small town in southern Illinois. My father was a minister, as was my grandfather, my brother, two uncles and two cousins – this is my pedigree. My exposure to spirituality and faith-based phenomena cultivated a lifelong interest in the religious systems of the world, but it was the occult that I've spent more time studying than anything. In 1984 I began a research campaign into the occult, and majored in socio-cultural anthropology to that end. I'm also obliged to tell you, lest anyone think I've spent my life with my nose in a book, that I've trapped wild boar in Tennessee for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, been a cowboy in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains, and worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad across Colorado and Utah.
How long have you been writing and how did you get to this point in your career?
My mother gave me her old manual Royal typewriter when I was about ten years old. I immediately tore out a piece of spiral bound notebook paper and wrote my first story on it. I was a "monster kid" in the 70's. I loved the Wolf Man and Frankenstein and the Mummy, so that's what I wrote about. Oh, and I made whole typewritten comic books of my own super heroes.
In my twenties I decided to compile a bunch of my short stories into a three-ring binder. I cleaned them up, filled in the gaps and called it a book. By the time I was 30 years-old I'd written six manuscripts with the same characters and ongoing story. I sent some of them to random publishers, not knowing then what we all know now, that publishers ignore unsolicited manuscripts. It wasn't until 1999 that my girlfriend (now my wife) encouraged me to get serious about my writing. She introduced me to Print-on-Demand Publishing. The costs were minimal compared to what I'd seen from vanity presses, and I thought that if I could just get my stuff out there maybe a publisher would notice me and offer to take me on. I ended up self-publishing two novels, first in 2003 and again in 2008, and they both won Independent Publisher awards. Last year Permuted Press contacted me and offered me a contract for both books, so I guess the plan paid off.
You have a new book coming out, Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter. Tell me what inspired you to write this?
Autobiography is the first book I was telling you about, except it used to be called: When the Autumn Moon is Bright. Remember those homemade comic books I mentioned? One of them featured two monster-hunting superheroes, a werewolf hunter and vampire killer. I've always been infatuated with werewolves, so I think it was only natural that I developed the Werewolf Stalker character. He became Sylvester Logan James, the central figure of both books.
I think my earliest inspiration for a werewolf hunter goes back to my father, because he absolutely hated the whole idea of werewolves. I remember when I was nine or ten; I had Power Record's "The Curse of the Werewolf," one of Marvel Comics old 70's horror titles. I was listening to the 45 and following along in the comic when my dad overheard the narration and turned off the phonograph. He didn't like all the talk of curses and evil, and he saw the werewolf as a hateful, demonic creature, so he confiscated the record. I still remember the conviction in his voice as he explained to me why I couldn't listen to it. It didn't stop me from liking those things, but it made a lasting impression.
I have a keen interest in dark fiction. Tell me how you would classify this novel and what’s dark about it?
Dark is my middle name, and this book (and its sequel) definitely falls, four-square into that category. In fact, one reviewer said the sequel was, "Much, much darker in tone than the first book in this series, though you wouldn’t think that could be possible." As far as I'm concerned, dark fiction is about more than a high body-count, and gratuitous violence just doesn't cut it; you have to create and sustain an atmosphere. As I see it, there are two basic sources of darkness – the world we see and the one we don't. Some horror novels use crime and human depravity to create their darkness; others focus on supernatural entities and powers. What I've tried to do is merge that human corruption with those diabolic agencies, and showcase the dark side of everything from religion to relationships. The book is written from Sylvester's point of view and Sylvester has a very haunted and dark-turned mind. Sylvester harbors an internecine hatred for the Beast (werewolves), the kind that burns people up from the inside. It's the very foundation of his life, and that by itself makes for a frighteningly dark world.
You quoted Nietzsche when you described the main character to me. He sounds complex. Tell me about him.
Yes, I was referring to Nietzsche's quote: "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you." This describes Sylvester's condition to a tee. Because here's a man who has always wanted to be honorable and decent, and yet can't really afford to be because he has this blood-feud with the Beast. He goes through periods where he accepts his own evil as a necessity, and then turns around to resume his struggle to be something better than he has become. I think that's what keeps the character, anti-hero that he is, from becoming an all-out villain…he may do horrible things but he is never at peace with them. If a protagonist loses the readers sympathy, it won't be long before he loses their interest as well, and when that happens they stop reading. This is the most delicate line I have to walk with Sylvester, and the idea behind it is that even a bad-guy can be a hero if he's going against someone or something even viler than he is. That gives me some latitude with the character because I see the werewolf in the same terms my dad did. It also gives me a chance to pit the two kinds of darkness against one another.
This blog is called Random Musings, so give me a random quote from the book – something you’re particularly fond of.
This is the piece I used for the frontispiece of the book before it was re-issued:
"What are we running from, Logan?" Samantha shouted through her tears. "I'll tell you everything later—I swear I will! But please don't ask me now. Just hang on to Josh." The road to the cottage was patched with ice, and despite the truck's four-wheel-drive capability, I could feel the tires slipping. I slowed down as much as I dared. A single peal of metallic thunder rumbled from the roof of the cab as it buckled inward. Samantha screamed as the truck fish-tailed side to side, narrowly missing the embankments. My fight with the steering wheel was handicapped by the Colt, which I refused to release. The windshield had split into a "V," and the maddening screech of talons against painted steel made my blood run cold. I regained control of the truck, smashed the .45's barrel into the overhead bulge and pulled the trigger. The report exploded inside the cab and shattered the back glass, but it didn't stop a demon's claw from bursting through the roof! As the monster fished for prey through ruptured steel, the truck careened out of control. Sam huddled with Josh against the passenger door. Her eyes were ablaze in terror at the sight of the werewolf's groping limb. I fired in repetition at the arm and the more vital areas at the other end of it, covering the upholstery in a steaming blood bath. The road ahead curved, but the truck continued its broadside slide. There was neither time nor opportunity to react as the earth dropped off beneath the wheels. The last things I was aware of were upside-down trees, and Samantha crying out my name."
What can we expect from you next? Is this the beginning of a series?
It is. As I've said, Permuted Press contracted with me for my first two books. The second, Heart of Scars, should also be available this year. I have a third installment in the series in mind, but I won't be starting on that until the first two are up and running again. Beyond that I want to do a prequel that covers the life of Sylvester's mentor Michael Winterfox.
Who would you say your primary literary influences are?
HP Lovecraft is by far my most prolific literary influence. He remains the only author I've read who has the ability to get under my skin and into my head. On the other hand, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy is my favorite book of all time and represents my other favorite genre: the western. Cormac writes extreme violence as if it was verse, and depicts scenes of atrocity with such grace that it's almost poetic.
———— Brian, this sounds right up my alley. Congratulations on finding your way to a great publishing house (I hope I get that lucky!) and thanks again for taking the time to answer these questions. I certainly hope I can have you back for the next book in the series!