Author Interview: Mark Farrugia

I first became acquainted (via email) with Melbourne author Mark Farrugia in 2009 when he contacted me about  illustrating a comic about a vampire seeking a meal while scrounging around the muddy, war-torn fields of the Somme. Not much later that comic - Allure of the Ancients was published in Midnight Echo Magazine #5.

We eventually met face-to-face last June in Melbourne and there was plenty of talk between us about the next chapter of Allure and its vampire character Rahkh. Last month Mark and I put the finishing touches on Allure of the Ancients: The Key to His Kingdom, which will be published in Midnight Echo # 7 this May.

Mark took some time to speak to me about the origins of Allure and his forays into writing and editing and it's fascinating to say the least. Scattered throughout is some of the art from our collaboration:

1. Tell us a bit about yourself; what do you do when you’re not writing?

For a lot of reasons I can’t control, unfortunately I don’t write much these days. That does give me a lot of time to do other things though. I cycle every day and kayak about 4 times a week.  Sometimes, I sail. Bushwalk. Run. I read a bit, too. I don’t like being indoors. When I read it’s outside. I’ve done some big trips on the bike, peddled from Cairns to Cape York once. Just me and one other guy; we mailed food to ourselves and picked it up from homesteads along the way. Also did Kunanarra to Broome, along the Gibb River Road, and the west coast of Tasmania.

2. Why speculative fiction?

Because you’re only restricted by your imagination.

3. Your favourite author/story?

Novel:  American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Novella: Wives by Paul Haines

Short Story: On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with the Dead Folks by Joe R Lansdale

Graphic Novel series: Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Graphic Novel: Watchmen by Alan Moore

4. Your very first published story – give us the details.

To Kill a Lesser God, published in Borderlands 11, in 2009, I think. It was about the ancient god of celibacy trying to find peace in a sexually primed modern world ruled by a bigger god—the internet.

5. Your tales tend to be subversive, controversial, disturbing, but most of all memorable – obviously the memorable part is deliberate, but what about the rest? Do you always set out to push the envelope?
   
   

Thanks for the kudos. Honestly, I’m not sure how you can deliberately make a story memorable. But I think readers tend to remember a story if it connects with them emotionally or sparks an emotional response within them.   

I think what I set out to do when I write is blur the line between right and wrong and sort of challenge the traditional view of the world. Maybe confuse the reader’s sense of morality. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t know. I don’t get much feedback about my stories. The best feedback I have received though was totally unintentional and consistent with what I think I try to do. It came from a friend who I’d describe as very intelligent and level-headed.  She sent me a message saying she felt sorry for the protagonist at the end of one of my stories. This confused me, big time. So, I pointed out that the character was not a very nice guy. For example, the first thing this character did after his long-term partner had been violently abducted was to take their life savings and try to buy time with an old woman chained, against her will, to a bed. After I pointed this out, she messaged me back saying, essentially, “Yes, that bastard got what he deserved.” For a moment at least, I think I somehow managed to blur the distinction between right and wrong in her mind. I like that, it think it’s very cool. 

6. You’ve edited the Best of Horror #2 for Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine in the past – any more editing jobs coming up for you?

I edited ASIM: Best of Horror Volume 2 with Juliet Bathory. I also edited ASIM 46. I am currently editing Midnight Echo 8 with Amanda Spedding and Marty Young. It’s a very exciting project, Midnight Echo have just increased the rates they pay authors too, so we hope to get some great submissions.

A page from the original "Allure of the Ancients",
published in Midnight Echo #5

7. The Allure of the Ancients comic series first appeared in issue 5 of the Australian Horror Writer’s Association’s magazine Midnight Echo. It centred around a vampire named Rahkh trolling through the Western Front of World War I searching for prey when he finds a human soul just as lost as his. What inspired that story and why do it as a graphic story or comic?

What inspired it? Honestly, no idea. I think I wrote the original Allure story for a vampire anthology.

The reason it’s a comic is simple: I couldn’t get the story to work as prose. The two characters are isolated from each other during the first half of the story and that resulted in too many pov hops. The story was too stop-start.  A total mess, really.

8. Rahkh returns in Midnight Echo #7 with the first chapter of a new story, The Key to His Kingdom, where we get to see some of Rahkh’s past and his manipulation of mankind. There are a few taboos, which fit in with the issue’s theme, but what is your overall intent with the Allure and Rahkh series?

Page 1 of the next chapter, "Allure of the Ancients:
The Key to His Kingdom", which will appear in
Midnight Echo #7, this May.

Originally with The Key to His Kingdom I wanted to explore fractured human relationships and vampire lore in historical settings. I was keen to create a secret vampire/human history before going on to explain the reason behind the vampires aversion to Christian symbols. However, when I pitched the idea to Midnight Echo Executive Editor Marty Young he wanted me to “..think how the horror genre could take back the vampire and make this creature horrifying again. Get rid of the sparkles and romance.” Then, when I formally submitted the idea to Editor Daniel I Russell he wanted my story to focus more on taboos. I sort of merged a little of what everyone wanted and the result seems to work, I think.

My overall intent? Ha! If I told you that I’d spoil the future episodes. Rest assured, though, my intention, in the end, is clear. I will say one thing though, Greg, I think the next instalment contains one scene you might not want to draw...you’re going to ask to see the script now, aren’t you?

Also the format of the comic changes from episode 2. Episode 1 focuses on the vampire’s recollections, future episodes will rely on dialogue and character interaction to drive the story forward.

9. What’s next for you - any new stories on the horizon?

I’ve written March of the Amputee, which is the sequel to Seeds (which appeared in Midnight Echo #6). I will soon start writing One Man, One Vote which will be the third and final part of the story. I also have an 8 page SF comic script, which I think is pretty good, and I want to expand it to approximately 40 pages. I’ll revisit that one day.

10. How do people find you on the web?

Along with Juliet Bathory, David Schembri Amanda Spedding, and Marty Young, I occasionally blog at http://screamingink.org/

Rollercoaster Ride

Writing is a tough game; like a freaking rollercoaster actually.

In the past week, the following has happened - I saw a draft cover illustration for my upcoming novella “Vaudeville”, which I really liked; I volunteered to review a favourite author’s novel, which was later published, I was invited to write an introductory line for another author’s story and; to top it all off I received a lowly royalty check and a form story rejection all in the same day.

I know, I know, I hear you saying “get over it, it comes with the territory” and yeah, you’re right, it does. I accept that. It’s just that writing is like you’re living with an addiction; you get good news and of course you’re on a high, then your legs get cut out from under you and you think to yourself, is all this effort worth it? My unhappy self says to me: “Why do you put all this effort in, writing, promoting yourself (and annoying others) on Facebook and Twitter, when you get very little in return?

Fortunately my happy-self chimes in and says: “Because you love writing – no matter what, you idiot!)

I’m not giving up – I’ve written about 11,000 words in the past fortnight - two short stories: a supernatural crime piece and a mad, fantastical and disturbing mythological tale that looks at the meaning of right and wrong.

Of course I want to be published (what author doesn’t?), of course it feels great to know people like your work, but it’s far better just to express myself and spill my imagination onto the page and get nothing in return.

And when the shitty royalty checks come and I receive a rejection I just have to remind myself of the two novellas I’ve had published, the third that’s on its way and the graphic novel that’s in its very final stages. I also need to remind myself that I’m not alone – there are hundreds of other writers out there on the same rollercoaster ride and hopefully, telling their unhappy selves exactly the same things.

Awards season

The speculative fiction writing industry is gearing up to recognise some of the best in the business, with numerous awards in various stages of competition.

The horror world's most respected awards are undoubtedly the Bram Stoker Awards and there are several Australians who have been nominated including my co-collaborator on Witch-Hunts, Rocky Wood for his work Stephen King: A Literary Companion, which is up for a best non-fiction work award. Fellow Witch-Hunts scribe Lisa Morton is also up for an award for her collection Monsters of L.A.

Other Aussie contenders include Kaaron Warren (best short fiction) and Jack Dann (best anthology). For the full list of nominees go HERE. Winners will be announced at the Bram Stoker Awards gala dinner on March 31 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Meanwhile in Australia, the list of nominees for the Aurealis Awards have been announced and can be viewed HERE. The Awards will be presented at a ceremony in Sydney on May 12.

The 2012 Ditmar Awards, Australia's most popular speculative fiction awards, are just entering the nomination process, with anyone "active" in the industry able to vote, regardless of what country they're in.

Both my novella's "Torment" and "The Noctuary" have made it on the eligibility list in the Best Novella or Novelette category. If you liked my novellas and feel they are deserving of an award, you can vote for them to win by filling out this form. Entries close on Friday April 13, 2012 or Thursday April 12, 2012 for those in Europe or the Americas.

If you do vote for my work then I say thank you.

Good luck to all those in the running in all of these competitions.

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Stieg Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series are extremely popular, with the right blend of intrigue, wit and fully realised characters and the characters, rather than the story are what makes the book for me.
At first I was enthralled in the mystery of the case our heroes Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander become involved in. Larsson had me hook line and sinker with his detailed history of the mysterious Vanger family and missing family member Harriet. Larsson weaved a tight game of cat and mouse, handing out tidbits and red herrings here and there, but when it came to the denouement, I went away feeling a little disappointed. Of course the resolution made perfect sense, but I was really hoping for something a little more exciting to round things off.
In the end it was the girl Lisbeth Salander, with her gothic melancholy, street smarts, desire for revenge and secret past that kept me reading until the final page and I'm very glad to hear that there are still two more instalments to go.

Withdrawals

Very soon I'll be swapping the drawing board for a notebook and getting back into writing.

This week I've been putting the finishing touches on the graphic story Allure of the Ancients: The Key to His Kingdom, written by Mark Farrugia and destined to appear in the Australian Horror Writers Association's official magazine Midnight Echo and I can't wait to let loose into some fiction. I think I've been suffering withdrawals.

It's not that I don't like drawing, it's just a much more visceral way of creating than writing and is obviously more labour intensive. Writing, for me and I imagine many other writers, is an escape from the crap in life, a stress reliever. There's nothing more liberating than getting lost in an invented world or rummaging around inside the heads of my characters. Reading the works of others is the same. I've been indulging in a few books, including an advanced reader copy of The Corpse-Rat King by Lee Battersby, The Broken Ones by Stephen M Irwin and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson, all very enjoyable (and distracting!) books.

I have already started the first draft of a short story that I plan to submit to Dark Prints Press' A Killer Among Demons anthology and I've got the spark of an idea for a tale for Midnight Echo 8 - in other words plenty to sink my teeth into.

Then there's the Halloween novella and the novel that I desperately need to get back to and complete this year, not to mention the edits on my forthcoming novella "Vaudeville", which are only just around the corner, so yeah heaps of writing to do.

Still, I'd love to know how long my fellow writers out there have gone without writing. Was it writer's block, not enough hours in the day, or just life being what it is and what did you do to get around it?