We Were Heroes Author Interview: Karl G. Rich

Hello, and welcome to an all new series of author interviews.  The long anticipated anthology "We Were Heroes" will be coming out in 2016, and in preparation for this release we'll be running interviews of various contributors.

MTI:  Today I'm interviewing a returning contributor, Karl G. Rich.  This time around, he has contributed a fantastic piece entitled The Absence of Heat.  Thank you for being here for another great interview.

KGR:  You’re welcome. As always, I’m at your complete disposal. That is except for home remodeling because I’m also up to my eyeballs with demo and rebuilding.

MTI:  For those of our readers who haven't encountered our previous parleys, how about we start off by having you introduce yourself.  Tell the new readers a little bit about yourself.

KGR:  I’m a native Floridian transplanted to the Great Lakes region. I am fascinated with shipwrecks of which there are up to 6000 individual cases in the Great Lakes. It is what drives my current novels as I develop my own lore of life and death between the wave tops.

MTI:  The Absence of Heat is appearing in We Were Heroes, an anthology devoted to the theme of aging, retired, or out of their element superheroes and villains.  Tell us a little bit about your contribution to this collection.

KGR:  I have a particular understanding of ageing and retirement. I hate to say it, but I resemble some of the caricatures on the proposed cover, especially the character with the teeth flying out of his mouth. I’m not an aficionado of comic books or their heroes, but I remember as a child identifying with the villains. Not necessarily the megalomaniacal characters, but the toadies and secondary bad-guys.

MTI:  Who's your favorite superhero (or villain)?

KGR:  My favorite super hero is a tossup between Spiderman and Ironman. Personally, I always loved how Stan Lee allowed that little slit Ironman breathed through to be drawn with expression. Seriously, how does a metal face either smile or frown? On the other side, the Green Goblin as drawn gave me nightmares.

MTI:  If you, yourself, could have any superpower, what would it be?

KGR:  To change people’s minds. Think about it. Good or evil, take your pick.

MTI:  Shifting back to your writing, can you tell us a little about what you're working on right now?

KGR:  I’ve completed my first novel, The Mad King of Beaver Island. It is under submission at a small publisher in the UP of Michigan. I submitted to them because they publish other non-fiction works similar to my novel. In that vein I’m revising the second novel in that series.

MTI:  Other than The Absence of Heat appearing in We Were Heroes, do you have any other stories being published in the near future?

KGR:  At this point, I’ve stopped writing short stories so I can work on my novels.  On the other hand, I’m always looking for other venues to submit previously completed works.

MTI:  On a lighter note, have you watched any good tv lately?

KGR:  TV is the bane of my existence. I watch sports.

MTI:  How about music?

KGR:  I like music, but I can barely listen to any of the new tunes. There are a few artists I can listen to like Bruno Mars or Meghan Trainor,  but I tend to listen to the “Oldie, but Moldy” style of music.

MTI:  What was the last movie you watched, and what did you think of it?

KGR:  I don’t have a lot of time for movies, so I’m picky. I only go to movies that are big screen affairs like Avatar. The last movie I went to was Interstellar with Matthew McConaughey. It had an interesting concept, but hardly original. The best part of the movie was when a hatch blew up on a space ship. The sound quality in the theater of the explosion was outstanding. Right now, I’m trying to find time to see the next Star Wars installment. Weird fact: I was on my first date with my first wife at the debut of Star Wars in 1977. There were less than twenty people in the theater.

MTI:  Readers love samples.  Do you happen to have a story excerpt you'd like to share with us today?

KGR:  Well, sure. Let me dig deep into my trusty flash drive…*bang, slam, crinkle-crinkle* oh, here it is…

Oh, since this is out of context. This is 1763, Great Lakes region and Wasaga is a Native American.

Wasaga

“Why?” The question hung in the air.

No answer came.

Wasaga opened his eyes as the first rays of sunlight illuminated the mountains to the east. Growing up, he never dreamed or at least dreamed little enough to affect his consciousness. Decades after achieving manhood and over the past month the dreams have never stopped. He dreamed of a white-winged canoe ripped to pieces and faces of white men that deep down he sensed he should know. At the end of every dream, a spirit god told him to travel west.

Different spirit gods visited him nightly. Michi Kinagog, the spirit father of all people invaded his dreams the most and was the most insistent on Wasaga journeying west. The most pleasant of intruders was Ogima Nibi, a spirit god of the Lakes. Wasaga rarely thought of her because he was a mountain dweller.

“Wasaga.” A soft voice and lips brushed his ear as he slept.

He envisioned a pair of alluring eyes and swept up corners of a feminine mouth as he slept. A hand jostled his shoulder and he awoke to the same pair of golden eyes that trespassed in his dreams. While sleeping in the hollow of a tree gave him shelter, it did not allow him access to retreat.

“We must speak.” Ogima offered her hand to help Wasaga to his feet.

It was not yet dawn and the soft morning light added a halo to her head. Around Wasaga’s campsite the forest animals started their daily search for food and morning ablutions to the new day.

As Wasaga crawled out of the tree he noticed Ogima’s swollen lower abdomen. How wonderful! Then he considered the implication of gods having children. If the gods need to have children, are they truly immortal?

Ogima reached out to lift Wasaga’s chin and redirected his eyes away from her pregnant belly. “I see you have noticed.”

Wasaga’s face reddened. “Forgive my rudeness, Lady of the Lake.” He dropped his gaze to her engorged bosom, then realized what he was doing, and quickly looked her in the eye.

“Maji is loose upon the world,” she said. “It is Our fault and We have indulged him too far.” Ogima caressed her belly and smiled. “I don’t intend to spoil this child like his brother.”

The eternal trickster is Ogima Nibi’s son? Wasaga tried to remember everything his grandfather taught him about the gods, but the years had dimmed his memory. The lore had been handed down to him as a youngster and he hadn’t considered the gods until recently when the dreams started to disturb his sleep. Something tickled the back of his mind. It was what his grandfather told him the night before the old man walked out of camp with another short, old man, and was never seen again. “Is it true the spirit gods only create children with the intercession of a human?”

This time it was Ogima’s turn to blush. “Yes.”

Wasaga quickly glanced at the woman from head to toe. She had all the qualities a man desired. Wide, baby-carrying hips to bring many healthy sons into the world and strong muscular arms to lift and carry everything he needed to survive. The only down side Wasaga could perceive was her strong mind. A man like him needed a follower to do his bidding not to argue a point.

“Not on your life.” She sniffed.

“Don’t worry,” said Wasaga, his voice held derision, but his raised eyebrow said the opposite.  What would it be like to sire…and be a father of a god?

Ogima held her stomach again. “Death,” she replied. “I was weak for a moment, now the father of this child has been consumed by the politics of the spirit gods.” She swallowed noisily.

            “I’m sorry.”

            “I did not love him. I was…” Ogima stared up at the sky. “…overwhelmed, and now he shares a spot with Michi Kinagog.”

            What manner of man can overcome and seduce a god? Wasaga imagined a man a head taller than himself, shoulders as wide as an axe handle, teeth that can crush boulders and loins that are the envy of a bull moose. His stones reflexively clenched and withdrew into warmth.

            “He was not what you think.” Ogima grinned demurely. “But that is not why I am here. Maji…” Her lips tightened. “Maji was banned from Us. We love him dearly, but he is who he is. This world is between Us and his world.”

            “Pardon me, Lady, but I have been taught the tradition of the gods,” interrupted Wasaga.

            Ogima stared down Wasaga’s petulance. “Yes? Were you taught Magi could open a door from his world to yours? All of the souls he has captured are waiting to return to this existence. They are vile, nasty creatures that no longer resemble the humans they once were.” The beautiful woman’s mouth curled as if to spit out sewage that had suddenly appeared on her tongue.

            “I’m only a man. What do the affairs of gods have to do with me?”

            “Maji used your ancestor in a curse. The curse is a lit twig during a summer’s drought. The forest is dry and the ground cover is thick and ready to burn. Maji has thrown the fire into the brush and only those involved in the curse can put the flames out.”

            The first rays of dawn streaked out from behind a mountain and Ogima gripped his upper arm. “Travel west to the land of the Fox.”

            Wasaga snorted awake. His right bicep muscle twinged. On his arm were four red marks where Ogima had gripped him in his...Was it a dream?

MTI:  Well, that certainly caught my attention, and I'm sure there are plenty of our readers who would like to read more.  For those interested, they can pick up "We Were Heroes," or many other Martinus anthologies that contain his excellent work.

We Were Heroes Author Interview: Chris Allinotte

Hello, and welcome to an all new series of author interviews.  The long anticipated anthology "We Were Heroes" will be coming out in 2016, and in preparation for this release we'll be running interviews of various contributors.

MTI:  Today I'm interviewing a returning contributor, Chris Allinotte, who has crafted the compelling story Faded Instincts this time around.  Thank you for being here, Chris.

It's been a while since we did one of these interviews.  Why not tell our new readers a little bit about yourself?

CA:  Well, the basics are that I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with my wife and children, but I grew up in northern Ontario, and went to University in Toronto, where I stayed for awhile.

I’ve always loved creating stories, but I got serious about it during theatre school, when I wrote my first play, Late Last Night. I later staged the production at the Staircase Café Theatre in Hamilton.

It was awhile after that that I got back into writing fiction, joining a writing group in Toronto. One of the pieces I came up with in that group later won first place in the Toronto Star short story contest. I’ve written pretty constantly since then. Two years ago, I published a collection of short fiction, called Gathering Darkness, which I’m very proud of. 

MTI:  Your story, Faded Instincts, appears in We Were Heroes, an anthology devoted to the theme of aging, retired, or out of their element superheroes and villains.  Tell us a little bit about your contribution to this collection.

CA:  Faded Instincts is about a father coming to terms with the son he left behind. So much of superhero mythology is dependent on the protagonists having no responsibility other than fighting evil in the name of justice which, while admirable, is sort of a juvenile mindset. I thought it would be fun to explore what happens when real life catches up to the mythology. The fact that the son finds himself developing the same powers as his father provided a nice catalyst to get them together.

MTI:  Who's your favorite superhero (or villain)?

CA:  I find myself going back to Batman a lot. When I was younger, I loved Spiderman and the X-Men, but as I’ve aged, I keep coming back to Bruce Wayne. I particularly like the Frank Miller books (The Dark Knight Returns, Batman:Year One), as well as Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke, that expose the hero as being nearly as damaged as the villains he fights. There’s something intensely gripping about Batman’s sense of urgency – that he cannot rest until the job is done – but it’s never done.

MTI:  If you, yourself, could have any superpower, what would it be?

CA:  I think it would be great fun, actually, to have the powers that “Animal Man” in my story has – to transform into any creature that’s ever lived, at will.  Just exploring the possibilities of that would take a lifetime.

MTI:  Shifting back to your writing, can you tell us a little about what you're working on right now?

CA:  I’m nearly through the first draft of my first full novel. It features characters I’ve used before in short stories, so it’s been really great to find out more about them as they stretch out to fill the greater space.

MTI:  Other than Faded Instincts appearing in We Were Heroes, do you have any other stories being published in the near future?

CA:  There is a novellette that I’ve done which may border on fan fiction (it takes place in the world of the Wizard of Oz), so I’ve been hesitant to send it out – but I like it a lot, so I may polish it up and release it myself on Smashwords. Everything else I’ve been doing has been to try and finish a book length manuscript for once, so my editing/submitting pile is pretty robust right now.

MTI:  On a lighter note, have you watched any good tv lately?

CA:  I’ve really been enjoying this season of American Horror Story, much more so than previous seasons. The story seems about a thousand times more consistent, with real stakes. I was also very satisfied by Series 9 of Doctor Who.

MTI:  How about music?

CA:  A friend told me he liked to create a playlist devoted to his work in progress, and fill it up with related songs that could help inform the tone of the book. I tried to do that with my current WIP, so it’s a lot of classic rock and  Alice Cooper, Epica, Within Temptation and Tool for example.

MTI:  What was the last movie you saw, and what did you think of it?

CA:  Most recently, the new Star Wars. I absolutely loved it. It was everything I hoped it would be, and everything that made the original movies great. Mostly, it was a movie that was about something, rather that simply being the product of a “create your own Star Wars movie” CGI kit.

MTI:  Readers love samples.  Do you happen to have a story excerpt you'd like to share with us today? 

CA:  Not at this time. The most new work I have is the novel manuscript, and it’s still in ‘just for me’ stage.

Thanks for having my story in We Were Heroes, and for a very enjoyable interview!

MTI:  And thank you for a great interview, Chris.  Those who want to read your work can get a copy of We Were Heroes.

Author Interview: John Grey

Hello, and welcome to an all new series of author interviews.  The long anticipated anthology "We Were Heroes" will be coming out in 2016, and in preparation for this release we'll be running interviews of various contributors.

MTI:  Today I'm interviewing John Grey, who contributed "Return of the Star Squad."  Thank you for being here.  Starting off, could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

JG:  I was born in Australia and moved to the US in the late seventies. I’m married with no children and live in Providence RI.

MTI:  Moving along, what first compelled you to weave fiction, and what's your favorite type of story to write?

JG:  I’ve spent most of my writing career churning out poetry and songs. It’s only in recent years that I’ve had the time to dedicate to writing fiction. It’s always been in the back of my mind that I wanted to do it but work commitments didn’t allow. But I’ve always been surrounded by books and an avid reader of them. Though my poetry comes in a wide variety of styles and topics, with short stories I’ve stuck more to genres, especially horror and scifi. And I enjoy tweaking them with a slice of humor.  

MTI:  Tell me, if you had to pick just one author who has influenced or inspired you, who would it be?

JG:  That’s not easy. At fifteen I would have said Dickens, at twenty, Sartre, at 25, Dostoyevsky. Lately, I’ve been reading a Library of America edition of the works of Elmore Leonard. I can’t say it inspires me but it sure keeps me waitng to read on.  

MTI:  "Return of the Star Squad" appears in We Were Heroes, an anthology devoted to the theme of aging, retired, or out of their element superheroes and villains.  Tell us a little bit about your contribution to this collection.

JG:  It’s really a tongue in cheek account of the return to action of some over-the-hill super heroes whose powers are kind of off-the wall to begin with but who somehow succeed despite themselves.

MTI:  Who's your favorite superhero (or villain)?

JG:  I’ve always been a Batman guy. I’m into the dark undercurrents of the character. To me, Batman/Joker is the pinnacle of super hero/super villain warfare.  

MTI:  If you, yourself, could have any superpower, what would it be?

JG: I’ve never had x-ray vision or super strength in my dreams but I do leave the ground a lot so my subconscious is telling me that I really do want ot be able to fly.

MTI:  Shifting back to your writing, can you tell us a little about what you're working on right now?

JG:  I’m working on a novel, a slightly futuristic tale set in New Jersey. I continue to write a lot of poetry. I try for at least 8 a day. And I always have a couple of short stories on the go, typically one pn its first go round and a second in rewrites.

MTI:  Other than Return of the Star Squad, appearing in We Were Heroes, do you have any other stories being published in the near future?

JG:  I have some coming up in Electric Spec, Macabre Maine, Fifth Di and Weirder Science.

MTI:  On a lighter note, have you watched any good tv lately?

JG:  I just finished watching a series called “Top Of the Lake,” a series filmed in New Zealand and starring Elisabeth Moss of “Mad Men” fame, Holly Hunter and a host of British, Australian and New Zealand actors. It’s ostensibly a mystery but is much, much more than that.    

MTI:  How about music?

JG:  I’ve been listening to the latest in the Bob Dylan Bootleg series, a fascinating glimpse into the recording of his classic mid-sixties albums. I’m also very much into an English band called the Unthanks. 

MTI:  Can you name three movies that you could watch over and over again and not be bored?

JG:  Three is tough. I have a large movie collection on DVD and some of my favorites include “Chinatown”, “His Girl Friday” and a French film called ‘Children Of Paradise.” 

MTI:  Readers love samples.  Do you happen to have a story excerpt you'd like to share with us today? 

JG:  Here’s a few lines from an unpublished work, “The Texas Chainsaw Macrame.”

            Alison needed to get help. But there was no sign of life anywhere: no houses, no traffic, no subconscious fears, no repressed homosexual desires. She began walking toward Henry’s Gas, Grub and Taxidermy. Hour after hour, she trudged. She hadn’t felt so alone since she lost her last group of friends to the Bye-Bye Camp Massacre. Wind blew fiercely. Ominous clouds moved in. She could hear the distant roar of a lion. She trembled. She blabbered. She moaned. She sobbed. She was not happy.

            But eventually, she saw lights ahead. She could make out gas pumps, rats, a stuffed mountain lion devouring a stuffed Pekinese. It was definitely Henry’s. But the sign was different from when she had pulled in there for gas earlier that day. It now read “Mabel’s Gas, Grub and Taxidermy.”

            “Must have changed hands,” thought Alison.

            It was almost midnight but there appeared to be a lamp burning in the office.  In fact what was burning was Henry. He was tied to a large spit over an open fire. An old woman slowly turned the handle.

            “Oh my god!” exclaimed Alison as she watched Henry’s flesh turn medium rare. “Are you okay?”

             “I’m fair,” he replied. “This is Mabel. She’s the new owner.”

            Mabel and Alison shook hands.

            “You’re plum tuckered out my dear,” said the old woman, looking most concerned.

            “I was in this strange house. I was attacked by a crazy woman with a chainsaw.”

            “Some people are so inconsiderate. Would you like a lemonade?”

            “Do you have something stronger?” asked Alison.

            “Stronger than my lemonade? I don’t think so, dear.”

MTI:  Thank you, John, for that fantastic interview.  Those who want to read more of his work can pick up We Were Heroes, coming out in February 2016!