Christopher Fulbright Interview - 4/17/2006

You can read an interview with Chris from 2003 here. Visit Christopher Fulbright at christopherfulbright.com.

Carl Hose: I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you again.

Christopher Fulbright: Thanks, Carl. It’s good to hear from you again.

Carl Hose: This is the first time I’ve interviewed an author twice, and I like the idea of being able to run an old and a new interview back to back. The first time I interviewed you was 8/01/2003.

Christopher Fulbright: Yeah, back when we all thought Blasphemy was actually going to be published.

Carl Hose: Not a chance of that, which is too bad. I thought Blasphemy was going to be pretty good. You were also promoting a novella at that time, Sometimes Women Are So Cold. How did it do, and is it still available?

Christopher Fulbright: Yeah, I think the novella did well by small press standards. I talked to Paul Fry (from SST Publications) several months ago and he was pleased with the way it sold. I think there are still copies here and there. I have a few that I take to conventions, and Shocklines or Project Pulp probably still have some left.

CH: One look at your web site shows you’ve been a busy writer. I notice one of the novels you talked about in the first interview, Of Wolf and Man, has come and gone. It appears to be out of print. Is it still available anywhere you know of?

CF: I hope not. (laughs) Actually, it may be available from the Barnes & Noble web site still, but someone recently tried to order a copy from Amazon and they were sold out.

CH: Are you satisfied with the outcome in Of Wolf and Man? I know when I interviewed you the first time, getting the novel done seemed to be a burning desire for you.

CF: Well, in retrospect, it was a mistake to publish it through the company that I worked with. They’re notorious now, and despite the fact that I was pleased with the novel at the time, the reputation of the company that published it pretty much negated any of that perceived value. I’ve since re-written and expanded the novel, and I’m trying to find it a new home. It’s been retitled Cult of the Wolf. I feel like the newer version is much stronger, and it deserves a second chance.

CH: I notice a screenplay on your web site, Zombie Moon. That peaks my interest. What can you tell me about that project?

CF: Ha … well, that was a project that I worked on in collaboration with my friend Matt Owens in the summer of ’99. We were going to make the movie ourselves Troma-style, but never got around to it. Had a helluva lot of fun writing it though. We’ve affectionately coined it “the worst zombie movie (n)ever made.”

CH: We talked a little bit about genre in the first interview. I still refer to you as a horror writer, but you really move through the genres. I noticed your first published sword and sorcery tale appeared in the anthology GRIMOIRE DE SOLACE II: Milking Blood for Poison Pens. Do you feel the horror writer tag is accurate?

CF: Oh, I think so. Horror is the genre I’m most comfortable with. There’s something of an underground movement to revitalize old fashioned sword and sorcery-type fantasy (a la Fritz Lieber and Robert E. Howard) that guys like Steven Shrewsbury are working toward bringing to light. I’m a huge fan of sword and sorcery, so I’ve taken a couple of stabs at it and enjoyed it, but it doesn’t come quite as naturally as horror.

CH: How is the writing schedule these days as opposed to how it was in ’03? Would you say you have more time to write or less?

CF: Well, for the majority of last year, I focused on writing on a new novel, and then went through something of a bad patch that drew a lot of my attention away from writing. I stayed at it as much as the circumstances allowed, but the past few months find me back at the grindstone. I’m getting remarried in June, to a wonderful woman and a talented writer Angeline Hawkes (http://www.angelinehawkes.com), and she’s been a Godsend. It makes all the difference to have someone supportive of you and your work. Someone who understands the need to write. So, recently, my writing schedule has been fairly busy.

CH: Is there one little gem of writing advice you can give aspiring writers?

CF: One little gem. Hmm. Well, it’s hard to pick out one piece of advice that doesn’t go hand-in-hand with others. It depends on what your goals are, I guess. But if your goals are to write for publication then my advice would be this: write every day, read widely in your genre, and send your stuff out to professional markets before resorting to giving it away for free.

CH: What’s on the table for you right now? What can we expect next?

CF: The thing I’m most excited about is my short story collection, ‘When it Rains’ and Other Wreckage, that was recently accepted for publication by WK/Grafika Press (http://www.grafikapress.com). It contains 17 stories, two of which are previously unpublished. In fact, “The Science of Salvation,” which was supposed to appear in Blasphemy, is one of those two original tales in the collection. It’s going to be extra cool because these guys have a great stable of artists, and each story will have its own illustration. I have a chapbook coming out in collaboration with Steve Shrewsbury, Serpent Gods, due out in October 2006 from Naked Snake Press. Angeline and I also just had a novella accepted for publication from Carnifex Press, but we have to come up with a new title. You can watch my website for updates. And some new short stories are going to be popping up here and there.

CH: Thanks again for the update. I’m looking forward to the writing collaboration between you and Angeline, and congratulations on the upcoming marriage. I wish you continued success with your writing.

CF: Hey, thanks for the opportunity, Carl. I really appreciate it. Best of luck to you!