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3/4/2012

I’d Like to Welcome Jason Stewart to be among the first authors to talk to us directly, and perhaps give us a bit of insight into his process.

For those of you who are not familiar with his work, We’ve already published and run “Last Words Of Robert Johnson” and we have another great tale in production right now. Look- Ummm , Listen for it soon! I’m glad to welcome here to speak with us today

Welcome Jason. Welcome to Smoke and Mirrors’ newest feature: Meet The Author.

Jason Stewart

I was really struck by “Last Words of Robert Johnson”-

What was the …genesis of that story?

The story “The Last Words of Robert Johnson” came out of a idea

that I’ve been kicking around for the better part of 5 years.

I’m a big blues fan and the legends surrounding Robert Johnson

have always interested me as a cultural touchstone for the

American south. The notecard mentioned at the story’s end is a

real item now on display at the Kansas City, MO. Blues Museum.

The note’s message and the infamous legend of Robert Johnson

at the Crossroads making a deal with the devil was in conflict

to me. So, the central idea of the story became “what happened

on the last night of Johnson’s life to cause him to write

those words?” After kicking it around for a while, I settled

on the idea that the religious confession was a way to get

out of his deal with the devil. The story and the rest of

the characters took shape pretty quickly after that.

LOVE that story!

Is there a “place” you typically go for inspiration/ story starts?

No, not really. I tend to be thinking of story ideas whenever

I have a quiet moment. If I’m not talking, I’m probably running

through potential plots and scenarios!

Is there anyone you emulate? Is there a writer whose style you

can’t seem to stop emulating?

Hmmmm, that’s a huge list of people. I try to model myself

after writers that really grabbed me as young kid. I was a

horror junkie as a kid, so I tore through Stephen King’s

novels and shorts religiously. Clive Barker also does the

kind of writing that I enjoyed. Amongst the more literary

types of authors I love are Toni Morrison and Don Delillo,

though I have no illusions I do anything resembling their

work. But I have influences all over the map, genre writers,

literary, movies , comics.

So, who was/is your …literary touchstones?

Mentioned a few early. But a few more: Gabriel Garcia

Marquez, Salman Rushdie, Alan Moore, Mario Puzo. Ahhh, too many!

What is on the horizon- Besides the upcoming Smoke

and Mirrors Story? What else might we expect from Jason

Stewart in the near future?

Well, the biggest thing in 2012 will be my first novel called

“The Eyes of the Stars” coming from Double Dragon Press in the

fall. I also have a story appearing the Pulp Empire Anthology:

“Heroes of Mars” which is themed around the Martian world of

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Jon Carter. That edition will be out

in March. I also write a semi-regular blog for

www.criticstudio.com called Tube Talk about TV and

anything else that comes to mind.

You say if you’re not specifically doing something you’re running plots in your mind and

planning…

Does this mean that you work on more than one story at a time? – OR is it once you’ve begun,

THAT story needs to be finished?

Hah! You’ve touched on a weakness of mine which is getting another story idea in the middle

of doing something else. I’ve learned to be a little more disciplined these days, so I try not to

start writing two stories at once. However, I’m not above outlining something else during a

longer project, or putting something on hold to write something shorter. Currently, I’m in the

middle of another novel, but I’ve ‘interrupted” that process several times in the last

few months to hammer out a short or two.

When you’re not writing ( Or thinking about writing something) What do you do for fun?

Fun? Do they still have that stuff?! (Laughter). Writing is a blast to me, so I do enjoy it immensely.

Starting in Feb., I’m going to to bite the bullet, can the 9 to 5, and start working full-time

Mon-Fri. on my writing projects. So maybe after that I’ll need a hobby!

Who are your favorite Blues artists?

Whoo! You love the big questions, Dennis! Well a short list would include all the Delta Blues

artists like Charley Patton, “Bad Bob” Robert Johnson, Sonny Boy Williamson, of course,

the later electric guys like Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf and Buddy Guy. The vocalists,

the instrumentalists…. I was blessed to see John Lee Hooker a few times and even talk to him

briefly. As I write this, it’s about a week after the death of Etta James, who I was lucky to see as

well. I’m a blues nut.

Why?

Well, ’cause it’s great! But more seriously, it must be in the blood. My mother’s father was

an accomplished amateur bluesman and though I never knew him, the musical legacy

was carried on through her. My mother’s uncle, who I did know, also was a big blues

fan and had dozens of vintage blues records, along with many other genres of music.

In fact, I inherited a vintage Robert Johnson 78rpm from the ’30′s when he passed on.

“Dust My Broom” which gets a mention in the “Last Words” story.

So… The Robert Johnson story was almost inevitable… and, I almost hesitate to even

suggest this, but have you considered writing a macabre story about any other of your idols?

There’s lots of weirdness and “potential” “out there”…

I mean, I’m a big blues fan as well…

Clarence Gatemouth Brown, because he was so primitive

Fats Domino because he was so seminal

Dr. John- Not really blues, but he couldn’t exist without the blues

Omar and the Wailers- Rockin’ Blues – If Credence Clearwater wasn’t such a sucky Pop band

this is what they might have sounded like

And

Paul Butterfield- Excesses in everything but boy howdy did they kick some ass for a short while!

I don’t know…There are lots of real singular personalities out there…Ripe for “exploration”…

What do you think?

And…

Yeah Etta James… I’ll miss her too!

We’ve got another of your stories coming up…Can you tell us a bit about “where”

that one came from?

“Beyond the Realms of Death” came from the desire to write an African-style folk tale

similar to the ones that I used hear from my dad. We had a whole collection of folk

stories from central Africa and I always liked the idea of people getting in over their

heads when dealing with the supernatural. The dour name and tone comes from the

idea that death is the unchangeable end of life.

The story was originally dedicated to a friend whose life ended much too young, so

I suppose writing it was a sort of cathartic exercise.

I’m really looking forward to running it, too.

The story; the Read, are terrific!

Thanks Jason

Stay well!

2/17/2012

I’d Like to Welcome Michelle Rabe (Pronounced Ray-Be, by the way) to be among the first

authors to talk to us directly, and perhaps give us a bit of insight into her …process.

For those of you who are not familiar with her work, We’ve already published and ran the

spectacularly original “Final Farewell”, One of our Christmas Extravaganza Stories

was hers as well: “Another First For Christmas”, and we’ve a third story upcoming, probably

in February: “Surrender”.

Welcome Michelle…Welcome to Smoke and Mirrors’ newest feature: Meet The Author.

I remember ‘way back when “Interview With The Vampire” was a new book. There was a frenzy

about vampires then… Then after that there were a few other times when vampires got “big”.

It’s almost cyclical, these days…

I don’t get the impression that it’s that way with you.

What was your first experience with a vampire?

My first experience with vampires was actually the movie “The Lost Boys” in the mid to late eighties. It was on VHS and my older sister was watching it. It freaked me out and I didn’t watch all of it. The first vampire movie that I really watched was the 1992 version of “Dracula” with Gary Oldman though I loved the movie vampires didn’t really get under my skin until the film version of “Interview” came out. After that I started reading Anne Rice’s books and really haven’t stopped trying to find good vampire fiction.

What set you on this course?

My novel’s main character really set me on this course. I was very bored on a film set one day and had finished the book I brought with me to work so I found some paper and started writing. Morgan, my main character, was there and she was a vampire. I didn’t question or wonder why she had to be a vampire, she just was. I wrote what I had and started doing research on vampire lore, from folklore and legends to popular fiction, films and RPG’s.

Where do you go for inspiration for ideas/ stories?

It may sound strange to non writers but I talk to my characters and follow their lead. I tend to get ideas in strange and inconvenient places, the shower, while driving to or from work so I keep notepads close at hand all the time. Though if I’m driving I’ll use the voice recorder on my phone or just leave myself a voice mail. The ideas that resonate with me the most start out as what if questions. Final Farewell came from the question, what if a vampire offered her dying high school sweetheart immortality? Surrender came from a challenge a writing friend gave me to write a seduction. Another First can be boiled down to how does a new vampire react to the holiday.

Follow up to “Where do you get Inspiration”

Personally, I don’t find it odd at all. I did when I first heard of this technique…Elmore Leonard invents characters and he just gives them a “little shove” and “all he does afterwards in write down what they do & say…

That sounds about the way I work though I don’t think I do much shoving at all. They tend to just tell me the story and I go with it. Sometimes I get it wrong. I’m reworking my novel’s first chapter almost from the ground up because Morgan told me I had it wrong. I think characters are the driving force behind any piece and if you don’t listen to them you’re not getting it right.

Who are your heroes?

Anyone who’s not afraid to chase their dreams even though they might fall flat on their faces. Anyone who gives selflessly, we need more people like that in the world today.

Who are your Writing heroes?

My writing instructor at Cabrillo College Marcy Alan Craig is my big hero right now. She has such passion for both teaching and writing just going to her class inspires me. Published author wise I am a fan of Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles. The early Anita Blake books by Laurell K Hamilton. I admire writers like the late Robert Jordan, George RR Martin and Brandon Sanderson for being able to create such complex worlds that I want to stay long after I’ve put the book down. Stephen King weaves a good story and I don’t know about you, but when I read his work I get the feeling that he just gets a kick out of telling a good story. I also really recommend his autobiography “On Writing”, I listen to the audiobook whenever I feel like I’m in a writing slump. He tells some great stories about his life and shares some (in my opinion) very good advice about writing without too much filler.

Might we see more of Morgan (on S A M) in the future?

I’m not sure if SAM will see more of Morgan in the future. Her story arc right now is definitely long term/form. She might surprise me though, I’m always open to being surprised that’s half the fun of writing to me.

Tell me more about her, please.

Morgan is what another character, her husband Nicholas, refers to as a proper 21st century vampire. She’s not sure what he means by that but it comes down to the fact that she’s very in tune with human society and lives among them. She’s the owner of a large corporation and at the beginning of my novel “Cast in Blood” she’s opened a vampire themed nightclub in Hollywood called the Dracul. She has several homes across the world but is currently living in the Los Feliz section of LA. She was born a little over 1700 years ago in Ireland and became a vampire on the day most of her family/clan was killed in a battle. Her sire is a powerful vampire name Julian and her grandsire is the second oldest vampire, Andreas. She has two living blood sons, Charles and Christophe who are also her business partners in the Dracul. Morgan and Nicholas have been married for a little over seven hundred years though they spend a lot of time apart and their marriage is a secret that only a few close confidants know about.

Have you ever worked a different way?

I’ve tried writing with outlines and plotting figured out and it just doesn’t work for me. I get so focused on where I think the story should be going that I don’t let it flow and it shows in the writing. It becomes forced, no fun to write and by extension I think no fun to read.

More “in your head”, or “from your heart?”

Definitely more from the heart. If I’m not having fun or being excited by what’s on the page/screen I tend to find reasons to not write. That’s when I know I’m doing something wrong. When I have those periods, I do things like going back to books I’ve read over and over for inspiration. It’s a good way to get the imagination moving. I also fall back on writing exercises that I’ve blatantly stolen from Marcy’s writing class.

I know of one guy (interview upcoming someday) who gets most of his ideas from dreams

Does that “approach” ever work for you?

I never remember my dreams so that way isn’t something that I can try. I like to think of my writing as waking dreaming so maybe my imagination takes a break when I sleep.

Finally (God forbid!) If your life or job or life partner was so demanding that you couldn’t write, what would you do?

I’ve had this happen a couple of times where life gets in the way and I become a not nice person to be around. I use writing as my outlet, my way to digress and escape from reality for a little bit every day. The only times I don’t write by choice are when the creative batteries need a recharge or there’s something in the story that’s got me stumped and I’m trying to work it out in my head.

Finally, can you give us a hint of what’s coming next?

My main focus right now is polishing my novel’s manuscript and trying to find an agent. I’ve been exploring options for self publishing as well so I hope that the next thing will be my novel which is currently titled “Cast in Blood”. I’m hoping to have found representation or gone the self publishing route by the end of this year.

Well, we’ve been around for almost a year, “broadcasting” a new story every Friday evening for your listening pleasure, entertaining- or… if you need a little tension in your life…

Anyway, we’re seemingly having a little trouble getting new “Headers” up… Making changes here…One of the new Headers is to be a Comments section.

I WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK OF OUR STORIES!

So…for now…

Also, coming soon, an open forum, where any S A M fans can discuss a story

Write to me- WriteSmoke-Mirrors@sbcglobal.net, attn: Editor

For the time being that’ll get your thoughts DIRECTLY to me. That’s what we want isn’t it?

Write

Be well

Dennis Miller

Editor/ Host