markgunnells

Lee Thompson is a hot up-and-coming writer in the horror genre whose name I think you’re going to be hearing a lot in the near future. I was lucky enough to get him to agree to do a little interview, offering some insight into his work. Trust me, this is a writer you don’t want to miss.

Mark: Hello Lee. Thanks for taking the time for this interview. Tell me, at what age did you start writing? What were your earliest stories like?

Lee: I stumbled into writing via music. In my early twenties I lived to play guitar and write songs but after years of doing it my ideas simply grew too large for a three or four minute song. I stumbled across the story of a couple characters that rose like mist in my mind and as I questioned them and made notes in a notepad, a story started developing (this became my first novel NURSERY RHYMES 4 DEAD CHILDREN.) I was twenty five or twenty six. I wrote different versions of that book (six in all) and the last one (completed this year) was finally the right one. Over the first few years, until I was nearly 30, I wrote only novel length work—that horror novel, a fantasy (that no one will ever see, thank God), a pathetic Crime, a wilting Western. But they were all lessons. I was poor (because I was a drunk) so I moved around a lot and didn’t have internet—I’m not even sure I knew there were places where a ‘writer’ could go to learn from other people, forge friendships, help bear sorrows, dance the mighty acceptance dance with their friends. Then when I hit thirty—or thirty bitch-slapped me—I decided to try my hand at short stories. I’d gotten a handle on my drinking, on my life, and had a lot of passion, a lot of guilt and regret to draw from.

I found Editred (an online writing community) and with the help of some wonderful people like Shaun Jeffrey (author of The Kult) and a few others I found my way, learned what I was doing wrong, and what I could do better. Then last year a friend from Editred suggested I join Zoetrope. I did. I have a couple wonderful friends there (Shaun Ryan and Kevin Wallis) who read all of my work. They tell me when I’m falling short and when I’m hitting the mark. It’s all part illusion. We strut our strengths for as long as we can until we have to face our weaknesses. And a true friend can be honest enough with you to show you where you’re weak. That’s one of my favorite parts. Because if something is damaged and someone can show me how to fix it, I’m in their debt.  

M: What writers did you read when you were young? What writers do you admire now?

L: Sadly, I never read until I turned 18 or 19. I was too busy with martial arts, with playing a fool, fighting, angry, unsatisfied. But one of my best friends gave me some of his grandfather’s Louis L’Amour Westerns. I tried them. I loved them. Then I read The Haunted Mesa and I loved the spookiness of the tale. I went to the library and asked for some spooky books. I was given Poe (a collection), King (The Shining), and a few others. I instantly fell in love with the subtle ways darkness danced at the edge of light. It hypnotized me. Then when I read Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Layman’s The Traveling Vampire Show, I found myself looking at my own troubled past, at the mystery and downright freakiness of some things I’d seen while growing up. They helped in the novels (they still do) and they helped when I started writing shorts.

Now that I’ve had a few years writing shorts I’ve come across a lot of writers I love (usually I find a short by someone, love it, and then have to see if they have a novel) like Tom Piccirilli, Greg Gifune, Douglas Clegg, Peter Straub, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Jack Cady, Jack Ketchum, Matt Venne, Gary Braunbeck, John Connolly, Michael Connelly, Donald Westlake, J.N. Williamson, Steve Rasnic Tem, Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker—and the newer generation of Lee Thomas, Dennis Lehane, Tim Lebbon, etc. All of these writers have influenced me heavily.

M: Your story "Daddy Screamed with Us" was published recently by Darkside Digital.  Whatyou’re your inspiration for that piece?

L: That’s the story of my childhood. Hopeless. Angry. Confused. I loved and hated my dad. He gave too little in some ways, and too much in others. My mom stood by us but was sometimes overwhelmed by her own disappointments and her own tarnished dreams. I think a ‘normal’ family—if you had a peephole into the private lives of everyone—would show that we’re all dysfunctional, and some of us never grow up. We hurt our kids, our kids grow up to hurt their kids. It’s sad and obviously easier to stay in a rut than it is to man up and have honor, respect, and truth in a family structure. It’s a constant tug of war.

Luckily (through hard work and forgiveness) my family is great now. We’re still all isolated in our own ways and we still affect each other, but it’s all mostly in a good manner.

M: Do you have a particular writing regimen? 

L: I write as much as possible. I write longhand in a notepad. I make a lot of notes. I ask a lot of questions about my characters and how their lives and choices weave them together.

Butt to chair and a finger to keys is the first step. After that it’s pretty easy because I love my characters and the stories they have to tell.

M: Speaking of characters, your novella "As I Embrace My Jagged Edges" which was recently accepted for Sideshow Press's new digital line, has a gay protagonist; was there any reason you went in this direction?

L: Yes, sir. I liked the idea that my protag’s family was Jewish, that they held this ancient relic and had to protect it with their lives, but it didn’t seem like enough. Then the main character Boaz told me before I’d finished the first draft that he wasn’t who I thought he was, that he had something everyone around him told him he should be ashamed of (something that his God told him he should be ashamed of!) and I went Pow! Zang! Boom! And then rewrote it several times until I portrayed him the way I knew in my heart to be true.

I love the artwork Tom came up with too. I can hardly wait for the hardcover limited and to hold the beauty in my hands!

M: I’m excited to read it myself. What are you working on now?

L: I have a very brutal novella “Iron Butterflies Rust” under consideration with one of my favorite publishers. It has a lot of personal things in it. It’s damn tender and damn wicked in places. The hero is Frank Gunn (whose last moments are witnessed in my story coming out in Apex’s Zombie Feed anthology—this story set a bit in the future), and I’m mapping out another novella featuring Frank right now.

I have another novella “Within This Garden Weeping” that I finished recently but need to put through another draft. Then I’ll let my friends Shaun and Kevin tear into it before I query the publisher I have in mind for it.

I’m writing a novel at the moment called “The Dampness of Mourning.” It’s the second book in my Horror/Mystery/Dark Fantasy trilogy. And what I learned in writing the first book (Nursery Rhymes 4 Dead Children) I can use here to knock some motherscratchers out. I’m excited about it!

M: You’ve got a lot of irons in the fire. When you write, do you have a target audience in mind? If so, who would that be?

L: I am my only audience when I write. I don’t want the crippling agony that comes with worrying what someone will think about my work while I’m creating. I worry enough as it is when it’s done and people have the opportunity to read it.

M: That’s a very good philosophy for a writer to have. Where would you like to see your writing career in ten years?

L: I will write my own brand of stories. Mostly tragedy with a dash of hope. Hard lessons learned. I’ll sell novellas and novels to my favorite publishers—Delirium, Tasmaniac, Sideshow, Bloodletting, and then some to mass market as well. That’s already started happening with shorter work and I’m frickin’ chuffed! Ten years hence I’ll look back on how far I’ve come and enjoy it for a moment, and then walk brazenly into what the future holds.

M: Lee, I really appreciate your time and I wish you the best in your future endeavors. You have a devoted fan in me, that’s for sure.

Lee’s digital story “Daddy Screamed with Us” can be purchased here: http://www.darkside-digital.com/daddy-screamed-with-us-by-lee-thompson.html

You can read about his upcoming Sideshow novella here: http://www.the-crypt.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=news&action=display&thread=387