Q. How long have you been writing?
I started writing soon after I learned to read. I think it’s a genetic disorder. I’m one of
those pitiable souls who can’t not-write. It’s rather like trying not to blink
your eyes -- the effort can only last so long.
I tried getting a few short stories published when I was a
teenager. Once out of high school, I got a good job, and started making decent
money. That’s a bit of a trap -- it removed any economic incentive to publish.
I couldn’t stop writing, though, so I wound up with stacks of unseen
manuscripts. The more recent ones are all on computer, with hard disks stuffed
so full that bytes keep falling out the side. But I do still have an amazing
amount of ancient and yellowing paper in various closets.
Q. Who are some authors who have influenced your writing
and why?
As a kid, my favorite authors were Arthur Conan Doyle and a
handful of Golden-Age SF writers -- Clarke, Asimov, Bradbury, Wells, Verne. I
discovered Tolkien while in the sixth grade. This was back when it was still
hard to find his books. I also read a lot of Lovecraft and Edgar Rice
Burroughs. These guys all taught me that the world is far bigger and stranger
than anyone can imagine, and if you can imagine it, a story can be woven out of
it.
All that is old stuff. More recently, I caught on to Anne
Rice with her very first books. I loved Randall Garrett’s “Lord Darcy” series.
From them, I learned how to integrate fantasy into a modern setting, though I
confess some of my writing still bears a Lovecraftian darkness.
A nonfiction writer who had a profound influence on me is
Joseph Campbell. No one is better at explaining the meaning and uses of myth.
Creating fiction is an act of mythmaking. I urge all aspiring writers to read
everything of his you can get your hands on.
Q. Do you have any authorly quirks you’d like to share?
(Like you only write by candlelight or something unusual like that?)
Candlelight? What a great idea! I love writing at night.
I’ll turn off the lights and work by the glow of the computer screen and my
backlit keyboard. A handy glass of good scotch is always a plus. Finding music
that evokes the mood of what I’m writing is almost essential. (Try reading “A
Melancholy Humour” with Linkin Park’s “Somewhere I Belong” in your headphones.)
But I suppose my most useful quirk is that I find myself
having long conversations with the people I’m writing about. Stories are about
people, and it’s my job as a writer to act as a go-between. My readers can’t
possibly get to meet these folks if I don’t know them well.
Q. In your novel, Melancholy Humour, you have a man in his
late 40s falling in love with a girl of 18. Can you explain your choice to make
the age difference so vast?
Well, first, the plot demanded it. A great deal of the story
deals with Vincent’s struggles in handling issues of childhood abuse. He has to
separate his own past from the realities in front of him. Stories about ethical
and moral dilemmas are far more interesting than clear black and white choices.
It’s also about renewal and a recovery of youthful
enthusiasm. Vincent has given up on life. Celia offers a kind of rescue.
There’s a contrast too of time and eternity -- the ancient and preternatural
realities they both have to deal with stand in stark silhouette against her
youth. It gives me a chance to explore the interplay of violent death and
vibrant life, truly ancient fears and springtime vigor. I like extremes.
Q. You have one of the best werewolf “hooks” I’ve ever
read. Can you explain the legare in more detail without giving spoilers to
those who haven’t read the novel yet?
“Legare” is the Italian for a tie or a knot. In the Middle
Ages, “legare” was a word for a love spell.
I use it to describe a link between a human and a wolf.
Even between a dog and a human, a very special bond can
form, something deeper than friendship but very different from romantic love.
As one of the people in my story says, “a dog is just a wolf you feed.” Wolves
were domesticated tens of thousands of years go. The legare between humans and
wolves has been around a very long time. We have hunted together for as long as
we’ve been human.
In the world of my stories, wolves were bred to form these
ties, to need them almost like food. Some humans are particularly open to them.
It makes for a symbiotic relationship, one that neither can deny, a loyalty
that transcends death, but something that has been ignored and pushed aside for
so long that none now clearly remember.
There are dark aspects of it too, things that can be misused.
It’s something I’m going to explore many different ways in future stories.
Q. Was your journey to publication an easy or difficult
one? How did you find Lyrical Press?
As I said, I started submitting stories as a teenager in
high school. I’ve got a collection of professional rejections slips of which
I’m very proud. A few years back, I stumbled upon a publisher who was just
starting out, and was looking for new talent. I submitted a short science
fiction novel I’d been particularly pleased with (“Still Life”). They bought
it, giving me bragging rights to being a published novelist.
As for Lyrical, I met my editor, Nerine Dorman, though an
email list we both had joined. She announced that Lyrical was looking into
publishing some darker fantasy. I had just completed “A Melancholy Humour,” so
I sent it her way. It apparently fit with what they wanted to do.
I guess the moral of that story is twofold. First, never
stop trying. Second, keep your eyes and ears open, and actively look for
openings in the areas you want to write.
Q. Any advice to aspiring writers out there? What are a
few tips and tools you use in your writing?
There’s the usual advice -- learn how to spell, use proper
grammar, learn punctuation. Boring but necessary. Beyond that, here’s what I
have to say to beginning writers. Once you’re established, you’re on your own.
Know your audience, which is only secondarily the readers.
When you’re just starting out, your audience is the publishers whom you want to
buy your stories. Get familiar with what they like to see, in subject matter,
tone, and style. If you don’t like the kinds of things they publish, don’t
submit your stuff to them -- they won’t like your books any more than you like
theirs.
Be unique. Follow a publisher’s offerings as a guideline,
but do something original and remarkable with the plot or the characters or the
situations. Do something that stands out.
Write what you love. That’s different from the usual advice
to write what you know. Writing what you love means writing with passion and
conviction. Readers love passion. Besides, if you love it, you’ll have learned
about it, and writing what you know will come as a natural side-effect.
Q. Where can we find your book to buy it?
You can get it from the publisher, Lyrical Press
Or from Amazon
or Barnes & Nobel
9.) Where can we contact you?
I can be emailed at dcpetterson@rocketmail.com
I
occasionally tweet @dcpetterson but my life is boring enough that I seldom have
anything interesting to say. I play guitar and keyboards -- but doesn’t
everyone? I’m deeply in love, but being incredibly happy doesn’t make good
publicity copy. No one wants to hear about my kids or my dogs or my day job
writing software or the gnomes and faeries who live in my basement.
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