Christopher Fulbright Interview - 8/01/2003

I'm running this old interview with Chris because he has some interesting things to say. Check out an update interview here. Visit Christopher Fulbright at christopherfulbright.com.

Carl Hose: I'm happy you've taken the time to talk to me. Sometimes Women Are So Cold is a great novelette. I read it in one sitting. Tell us a little about the genesis of the book.

Christopher Fulbright: Thanks for the opportunity. The pleasure's all mine.

Sometimes Women Are So Cold was actually born from the combination of a lyric in a Guns N' Roses song and a touch of bitterness. We don't have the room to get into the situation here (insert Jedi mind trick - "You don't want to know the details"), but suffice to say I got burned pretty bad. I was very much in agreement with the opening quote from Clark Ashton Smith, "The fall of man really occurred when Adam fell for Eve." Had every man since the beginning of time endured such duplicity and angst at the hands of a woman? I thought, "Sure they have. And they probably will until the end of time." So I pictured this future world, where a woman scientist engineers a plague that introduces viral genes to the male chromosome, effectively killing off the majority of males in the world, making possible the subjugation of the entire gender. The remaining men live to become sex slaves, kept like pets, commodities, mere articles of trade, and so on. That's the set-up anyway.

I aimed for something that was fun and didn't take itself too seriously. I had intended to make it a kind-of Donald Westlake meets John Varley meets Edgar Rice Burroughs hybrid (which seems like a bad idea now that I say it out loud - heh, heh). I really had a lot of fun writing it. Three out of four reviewers have offered favorable reviews, and the one who didn't kind of missed the point. But, hey, to each his own.

Carl Hose: You and I have appeared in a couple of publications together, including the newest, Blasphemy. I'm always happy to see a story by you in a collection I'm in. It's sort of a bonus for me.

Christopher Fulbright: Thanks, Carl, I've enjoyed reading your tales, too. I really liked The Back Room.

CH: Speaking of Blasphemy, when you were asked to submit, did you have any second thoughts because of the theme?

CF: Second thoughts, huh? Well, I had done my share of spitting in God's face when I was in my teenage years and my early 20's. I used to be very deep into the occult, and then began leaning toward Satanism (in as much as I believed that I created my own reality), so blaspheming was never too much of a concern for me. Only in the past few years did God blatantly intervene in my life and reveal himself to me as a benevolent creator who does care about all of us, no matter if we believe in Him or not. So, yes, it was suddenly an issue I had never had to face before. I had been writing horror for over 16 years, but I'd only been a Christian for two.

In the end I drew on experience. I have a strong faith in God, but negligible faith in organized religion. My tale in the anthology attacks the hypocrisy of individuals in the church, and addresses the debate of scientific blasphemy at the very crux of the matter. And I can't tell you more, or I'd have to kill you …

CH: You wrote a killer wolf tale in one issue of Peep Show, I think it was issue number two. Awesome story. That was when I really started paying attention to you. The ending of that story hit me. In fact, I mentioned it in a review I did of that particular issue of "Peep Show" and I'll be damned if I didn't give away the ending. I've since revised the review (thankfully it was an online review) so it doesn't ruin the story. Anyway, was that your first werewolf story?

CF: Yeah, Full Moon Over Boulder. Thanks. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on that tale.

Yeah, it was the first time I'd ever written anything werewolven in nature, although I went through a phase in the early 90's of reading a bunch of the more famous contemporary werewolf novels back to back, like The Wolfen, The Beast Within, The Howling, and a stack of others. I had a lot of fun writing that tale. I lived in Boulder for a while, and spent a lot of time there alone and yet surrounded by people. I was drinking a lot and working a lot. That tale was born one night when my rage got the better of me and I decided to write instead of destroying something. It sat in a box for a few years until Peep Show came along. I realized I had finally found a market for the tale, so I dusted it off, gave it one last revision, and sent it off to Paul, who loved it.

CH: You're not specifically a horror writer. Sometimes Women Are So Cold is sci-fi. Do you have a first love as far as genres go, or do you simply go where the spirit leads you?

CF: I started out writing sci-fi when I was very young. In fact I grew up reading Jules Verne and H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs. The mid-80's changed all that. I saw Creepshow and then I read Christine and knew that was what I wanted to do. All I wrote from '86 through '94 was horror. Then I threw in some mysteries, some noir-vignettes, sci-fi, and the rare fantasy tale. Now I'm starting to get more into adventure fiction. But really, while sci-fi was my first love, horror stood by me in all the good times and bad.

CH: Who are some of your favorite writers?

CF: Ugh. I have to pick? There are so many. I could bring you into my office and show you my bookcases and say, "There they are!" But I suppose you're looking for a short list.

Short story writers: Robert E. Howard, Ray Bradbury, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson, Flannery O' Connor. Novelists: H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Raymond Chandler, Stephen King, David Morrell, William Goldman, Joe Lansdale. Those aren't by any means exhaustive lists. I'm sure I'll be agonizing because I want to add more. Heh-heh. You can see why my wife hates to go with me to the bookstore.

CH: What about film? Are you big on watching movies, and if so, do you have a favorite movie?

CF: I love movies. I watch tons of movies. I love B-rate horror and science fiction. I love everything from The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca to Indiana Jones, from Godzilla to Alien, from Dracula to The Mummy, from Die, Monster, Die to From Beyond. I love Ed Wood-type stuff, cherish the gothic atmosphere of the old Hammer films, revel in the cheesiness of Irwin Allen sci-fi/adventure shows and movies. I will watch just about anything in the horror section or science fiction section of my local movie store. With all the crap I've rented, I'm sure they think I'm one sick puppy.

I'm also a pretty big fan of Japanese cinema - Akira Kurosawa films like Rashomon, and The Samurai Trilogy, Sanjuro, and Kagemusha are all examples of how truly powerful effective cinema can be. Great stuff. I never get tired of watching the old Zatoichi: Blind Swordsman films either, which they just re-released on DVD. And, of course, Hitchcock, the American master. Vertigo, Rear Window, and North by Northwest … I could go on.

CH: Is there a book by another writer you wish you would have written?

CF: Magic by William Goldman. If you haven't read it, you need to. Don't read the back. Just open it to the first page, start reading, and lock yourself in a room until you're done.

CH: One of the things I always try to do when I give an interview is get the writer to discuss work rituals. Do you always write on a computer, or do you ever draft a story in hand? Where do you work?, what hours are best for you?, that sort of thing.

CF: Up until the mid 90's, I wrote everything long-hand or on the typewriter … an old manual Remington. So when I switched to electric typewriters and then later to the computer, I destroyed a lot of keyboards. Heh-heh.

I have always set aside a place to write, even if it's just a folding table in a quiet corner somewhere. Now I have a nice office with all of my books and music and toys in the same place, so I love it. It's like "my room," where my wife comes to visit now and then.

As far as times to write, late nights are best for me. These days I try to write at least three nights a week, usually for a minimum of two hours per sitting. It tends to run longer if I'm on a roll. And I don't ever stop to revise when writing a first draft. Time enough for that later. I find that if I make myself sit there and do it, the words may come hard at first but they're flowing well by the end of my stint.

CH: I love the fact that you have the technical aspect of writing down. I'm a stickler for proper sentence structure, commas in the right place, all the basics that some writers tend to overlook, and when I read your stuff, I'm not distracted by glaring mistakes. There's not really a question in any of this. I just appreciate that you've taken the time to write well, not simply on a creative level, but technically as well.

CF: I guess it was all that journalism training in the early years that really hammered me on the mechanics. I had a great editor who humbled me in a big way when I was just starting out. I also re-read The Elements of Style on a regular basis. Sometimes I'll still have a typo or two slip through on my own stories, and it bugs the hell out of me when I read it later and catch it too late.

CH: Speaking of the creative level, though; are you one of those writers that structures a story and plots it before you write, or do you just jump right in and let the story lead you?

CF: I don't plot very often. Most of the time I'll just have an opening scene, or a set-up, or sometimes just a very strong emotional reaction to an issue that I need to purge, and go from there. I've started writing some stories only on the basis of an intriguing title. Plotting takes some of the fun out of it. You know what I mean? I have plotted on a few occasions, but I have the outlines and no finished product, so what's that tell you? Heh-heh. Maybe someday I'll pick those up and flesh them out.

CH: I noticed you have a novel, Of Wolf and Man, coming out soon. Give us a few details on that one, if you can.

CF: Well, Of Wolf and Man was one of three completed novels I had laying around. I really felt that was the best of three, and so I worked on it here and there for a few years, updating, deleting, and re-writing. I didn't really "roll my sleeves up" with it until late 2001, though, when I did a complete re-write and decided it was time to try and get it published.

It's a werewolf novel, and it uses a few clichés, but I think you need to expect that. The action of the novel centers on a ritual initiated by the Mother of Wolves, a kind of Circe incarnate, whose purpose is to procreate and carry on the werewolven race. She kicks the whole thing into motion anyway. One main character, Eddie Celidus, gets sucked into the evil goings-on while coping with his beloved wife's sudden, violent death … and doing a pretty bad job of it. In the midst of the madness that ensues, a second main character, Mark Striebler, finds himself on a quest to learn more about his estranged father, ex-leader of a local occult group, now many years in his grave. A magic symbol leads him to more clues, and—a few mutilated corpses later—to the ultimate confrontation.

The book should be out at the latest by Feb 2004. Probably earlier. I'm hoping earlier. I'm waiting for galleys now. It'll be available on Amazon.com and all that. You'll be able to order it at a discount through my website. (http://www.mindovermedium.com/chfulbright)

CH: What else is in store for us from Christopher Fulbright?

CF: I've got a few more short stories on the burner, and a novella I'm finishing up now, but after that I'm going to take some time to focus my efforts on a new novel and aim for the mass market with that one. I have ideas for several more, but two I really have a desire to work on and get finished. I enjoy writing short stories, but they're eating up a lot of time and not really getting me anywhere. I'd like one day to be able to make a living at this and, sadly, I don't think it's possible these days with the short form. At least, not until you've firmly established yourself in the mass marketplace.

Anyway, I may put together a collection in the meantime, and try to sell that while I'm working on the new book.

CH: Thanks for talking to me, Chris. When you have a Flash commercial for the novel and promo materials, be sure and send them to me so I can get the stuff up on my web site.

CF: I sure will, and thanks for your time, Carl. I really appreciate your support. I hope to see you in many more publications! Thanks again.