Night Time Logic: Interview with Cemetery Dance

I've been interviewed by the weird fiction author Daniel Baum as part of his Night Time Logic column over on Cemetery Dance. Daniel and I share a love of Robert Aickman, so the interview inevitably touches on that, strange stories in general, and my recent anthology from Hersham Horror, Ebb Tides

You can read it here.

Ebb Tides: UK | US

Author Interview: Cristina Mîrzoi

I recently reviewed the short-story collection The Headsman by author Cristina Mîrzoi, and it impressed me a hell of a lot. If you've not read it, do yourself a favour and pick it up here: The Headsman (UK | US)

After reading it, I reached out to her to ask her a bit more about The Headsman, writing in a second-language, her future writing plans, and the fun-filled topic of death as a theme in fiction...  After some delays on my part, you can read the interview below.

Take it away, Cristina:

So firstly, congratulations on The Headsman - it’s a fantastic piece of work. Could you explain something about what the book means to you and where your inspiration for it came from?

Thank you so much! It means a lot to receive peer feedback and I’m over the moon about the positive ones, as you can imagine.

During the pandemic, I made a habit of going to the nearby park to find a quiet spot for reading or writing flash fiction ideas. During one of those outings, I took Terry Pratchett’s Night Watch book with me. It was late April, almost May. The lilac trees smelled nice, the weather was lovely, and it brought up a vivid memory of a funeral that I attended years ago, during a warm April day in a cemetery filled with blooming lilac trees. That same day, as I was reading, I came upon a chapter where Vimes was visiting the Cemetery of Small Gods, where lilac trees were growing. I don’t believe much in fate or strange occurrences, but I took it as a good omen and brainstormed a few ideas. I wrote the 1st chapter as a standalone piece, then continued with the rest. For one chapter I even adapted a rejected flash story.

I have a lot of affection for The Headsman, since it’s my first lengthier piece in English and I am thrilled with how it turned out.


I understand you’ve written in Romanian prior to The Headsman, so I wondered what made you decide to write this book in English? Is it something you plan to do again in your writing? (I personally hope so, as I can’t read Romanian…)

Yes, indeed. I have written a children’s fantasy novel in Romanian, which is my native language. It was recently published by a local press. Working on this novel was very enjoyable and it’s very dear to me, however, I enjoy writing in English more. I believe writing in English gives me more flexibility as it has a richer vocabulary than Romanian. It’s also easier to find my crowd, since the international reading community is so diverse and more open-minded. Obviously, I was self-conscious at first, English not being my 1st language, but I got lucky in finding Dion (The FineToothed Comb) who helped with the editing part, and everything came together really well.

I have just finished the first draft for a novella, so hopefully it will come out soon.

One thing I loved about the book was its structure: an interconnected narrative not quite a novel, not quite a short story collection. Did you have this structure in mind for the book from the start, or was it something that came as you were writing?

The 1st chapter was meant to be a standalone flash piece; it was as published in The Siren’s Call Publications e-zine’s Halloween edition of 2021. What drew me back to the story was the need to explore the backstory of the characters. Having the witch/duchess as the main character felt a bit overused, so the headsman’s POV seemed more intriguing. In the beginning, I thought of writing a bunch of separate stories where the headsman would be the only common thread. But this format of tales that focused on the people he was supposed to execute felt too impersonal; I wanted to get to know him better and explore the emotional side of the story.


Another thing I loved about The Headsman was how each story made me reconsider the ones I’d already read. It’s definitely a book that benefits from being read more than once - was this an effect you were deliberately going for? How did you go about weaving in all the cross-references and allusions to other tales in the book?

I am surprised at how many people have mentioned this. It wasn’t really my intention. At first, I thought it would be interesting to have all these different characters connected in some way; one’s actions to influence another’s, a bit like a domino effect. Soon after, I started adding hints and clues because it felt more challenging and fun for the reader (at least that’s what I hoped). As I child I was a Sherlock fan, so I like mysteries and puzzles. Some people have appreciated this, saying it was an engaging storytelling choice, while for others it felt a bit confusing.


Maybe I’ve got a dark and maudlin mind, but to me the main theme of the book seemed to be death, and how no one escapes from it, not even the Headsman. But enough about me—what do you think the themes of the book are?

You got it right. Death is one of the themes since the idea of the story came from the memory of a funeral. I also thought a lot about moral loss. Each character has this sort of tragic background that makes them act in a certain way, and I wanted for the story to work as a character study. There are many layers to one’s personality, and I didn’t want the characters to come across as one dimensional. All of them have a breaking point. It was important for me to explore how they got to that certain point.


How has the book been received? Marketing an indie book is pretty tough, and I imagine it’s even tougher when you’re written a book in a different language.

Well, to be honest, it hasn’t been easy, but I enjoyed it very much. In the beginning, I thought about using a pen name, something catchier and more marketable. Although I am Romanian; I haven’t been using local/Eastern European elements in my stories, so I didn’t feel the need to emphasize on my background. In the end, I decided against it, since I’m not interested in building a persona. Writing is a very liberating activity for me, so I wanted to keep it this way in all aspects.

The great part about this entire process has been the networking; being able to connect with a lot of readers, especially on Instagram, which were very supportive and provided me with great feedback and some indie authors that made me aware of how many outstanding books I had overlooked. The amount of interest surprised me; I didn’t think people would give a lot of chances to an unknown newbie with a weird surname. 😊

And finally, what next for you on the writing front? Can we expect another Cristina Mîrzoi book soon?

I mentioned earlier about finishing the 1st draft of a novella I had been working on. Deciding on a genre is tricky, but it’s somewhere between dark fantasy and magic realism. Characters from the classical fairy tale Hansel and Gretel have served as archetypes for creating my own characters, but this is not a retelling. It’s a story about a woman that is forced to face her past as she tries to gain closure on her childhood traumas. She’s an unreliable narrator, so the events occur at the crossroad between reality, delusion, and magic, at times turning into nightmarish situations.

The Headsman (UK | US)

All The Fabulous Beasts: Priya Sharma Interview

I couldn't have been more excited than when I heard Undertow Press were going to be publishing the debut collection from Priya Sharma. The stories I've read of hers over the last few years have always been superb, by turns creepy, beautiful, tender and terrifying. A whole book-load of them? Count me in. Especially one with such stunning cover art and design as this one.

I asked Priya a few questions about All The Fabulous Beasts, particularly focussing on the two stories new to the collection, 'Small Town Stories' and 'A Son Of The Sea' (spoiler: both brilliant).

So, without further ado...

JE: So, to warm us up, how do you think of your stories? Weird fiction, fantasy, horror? I wouldn’t know how to classify them myself (which I absolutely think of as a good thing). Do you find such categories useful as a writer, or limiting?

PS: Hello James! I find that a hard question, even now. I hope that All the Fabulous Beasts is all of the above. When Mike Kelly of Undertow put this collection together he was very careful about what he felt should go in (thankfully) as I've also dabbled in fairy tales, mythology and alterative history. If they'd been included, certain stories might have jarred with others.

The story that I'm writing dictates the form and flavours. I've had lots of rejections along the lines of "I like this but it's not horror". I certainly don't find strict definitions of genre helpful, but I think definitions are getting broader and more blurred.

My favourite books don't adhere to strict definitions and I think I've drawn on them. Things that are between the lines or bend genre are more interesting, such as novels like Beloved by Toni Morrison, Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut, and in the work of David Mitchell, Calvino, Helen Oyeyemi, to name a few.

JE: Regardless of how you think of them, your stories nearly all feature a supernatural element. What is it about the supernatural or surreal that appeals to you as a writer? What does it allow you to do that ‘straight’ realism couldn’t?

PS: I remember listening to Thana Niveau on a panel about horror and she said that she was drawn to it because it was hardwired in there somewhere, which I thought was very thoughtful, rather than it just being about exploring our personal fears. I feel like that about most speculative fiction.

The supernatural allows for a whole new level of allegory. Also, when it's done well it does double duty as there are thrills to be had.

I wish I could write straight fiction, and probably read more straight fiction than genre fiction. When I try and write 'literary' fiction it seems very flat on the page. I feel confined. I think I write speculative fiction because I am, in truth, an escapist. It's the perfect type of fiction for exploring big ideas, feelings, and for extrapolating, but also for having fun and pushing the limits. Human beings are all about the impossible (even at risk to ourselves and the planet).

JE: In both of the new stories in your collection, there’s a very strong sense of place — from the more exotic locations of 'A Son Of The Sea' to the very English, parochial English setting you use in 'Small Town Stories'. So I wondered how important you think a evocation of specific place is, to you as a writer?

It's a crucial part of worldbuildng for me, as important as character. We're all affected by our environments. You can character build in how a person interacts with that world. I always do more research for stories than I need and have to be selective about what I use. It's the same with the world that I'm writing about. There's more happening off page that never makes the cut. Sometimes it's as much as what I imagine for the characters themselves.

I love stories with a strong setting, that's crucial to the story. It's what I enjoyed most about The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley, for example. The Titus novels by Mervyn Peake blew my mind.

JE: I was especially taken with the titular setting of 'Small Town Stories' — a lot of British horror fiction seems to be either city based urban horror or rural folk horror, but these kind of backwater small towns seem very British and very scary to me. Was it a conscious decision, to write about the kind of place normally ignored?

PS: No, in that it wasn't a conscious decision - I just wanted to explore feelings I had about the town I grew up in- a smallish Cheshire market town, and when I think about that era it brings back the child in me, for reasons good and bad. That place still has a lot of power over me. When I go back I realise that I'm a stranger there.

The thing is, I don't recognise the place that I knew, not really. New build homes are where the industries that employed most of the town once stood. Supermarkets have replaced the veg shop and the butchers. There are more coffee shops and hairdressers, but nowhere to buy books or music. There used to be a thriving market each week but now it's just a carpark. And I'm not sure who shrunk the schools I went to.

Every small town has its urban legends and outsiders, and I wanted to explore that concept as well. Births, deaths, affairs. Nothing was secret for very long.

I wanted to write my own love story to it all.

JE: As well as a strong sense of place, both of these new tales seem to be about the past being something we can’t escape from, or even move on from - was this a conscious theme?

PS: Sometimes it is, sometimes it just seeps in there. It's a form of haunting, isn't it? The past is important to most people I know, whether they're trying to recreate/relive it or escape from it. I read a lot of Fay Weldon in my teens (thanks to The Lives and Loves of a She-Devil) and one of my favourite lines by her is "Wherever we go, we take ourselves with us". We can't escape our pasts. We can only learn to live with the horrors and joys of it.

It's funny that you've brought that up. I don't think I've ever started a story at the beginning of a character's journey. I'd actually find that too difficult to chart, in some ways. I like flawed people, in the thick of their struggles. What does that say about me?

JE: And finally, can you tell me a secret - name an author who’s an influence on your work that no reviewer or commenter has ever picked up on...

PS: Jim Crace. I think he's woefully neglected in the UK. His novels vary widely in subject matter but there's something about his prose that is poetic. It has a rhythm that I find addictive, almost iambic pentameter, which some people will mock. Reading his work, I get the feeling that every single word is considered and deliberate. I think his style is unique, and can only hope that one day, if I work hard enough, I might develop a unique style too.

My favourite works of his are Arcadia, The Pesthouse, Being Dead and The Devil's Larder.

You can buy All The Fabulous Beasts from the Undertow Press site, in both paperback or hardback editions.

Interview On Hannah's Bookshelf

Should you be so inclined, you can now listen to my interview on Hannah's Bookshelf on Mixcloud. In it, my past-self calls my future-self (who is now also my past-self, although not the same one who was interviewed) an "idiot".

I also talk about horror, serial fiction, Falling Over, The Quarantined City, Ramsey Campbell and stealing office stationary supplies.

Hannah's Bookshelf 14/11/2015 - with special guest James Everington by Hannah's Bookshelf on Mixcloud

Radio / Retro

Here's a few things happening soon:

I'll be appearing as the guest on Hannah's Bookshelf on North Manchester FM this Saturday between 2pm - 4pm. Hannah Kate will be quizzing me about serial fiction and The Quarantined City, short stories, Falling Over, and various other book-related gubbins.

You can listen on 106.6FM (if you’re in the North Manchester area) or online if you’re further afield.


Secondly, my story Retro Night will be appearing in the next issue of Supernatural Tales due out before the end of the year. It's one of my favourite magazines so it's a real pleasure to be appearing again in its pages. More about the issue here.

Horror Fields and Amazing Stories

I'm pleased to say that my story, Across The Water, is out now in the Morpheus Tales Rural Horror Special - The Horror Fields. Mine is a jolly little tale about prejudice, strange insects, and lock-keeping.

There's some great authors featured, including Richard Farren Barber and Rosalie Parker, so I'm really looking forward to reading this one myself. The cover art is really cool too.

The Horror Fields is available now in paperback from Lulu and ebook from Smashwords, with Amazon coming soon.


Also, I've been interviewed by Gary Dalkin on the Amazing Stories website - one of the most enjoyable interviews I've done to date. You can read it here.

Distorted Visions

I like to say, in glib self-promotional moments, that the sort of horror that I write is one where the story reflects the psychology of the characters. You can probably find me saying something similar in the About Me section on this very blog. It’s a short hand, really, to say that my stories aren't just about people having their spleen eaten off by zombies, oh no. It's true as far as it goes. But like most marketing speak it’s too simplistic to mean much.

Thinking about it more, I think that what I am trying to say is that a lot of good horror reflects the world-view of the characters (and readers). But like one of those funfair mirrors, what comes back is distorted. Or even broken.

Clichéd example alert: Lovecraft is well known for his ‘cosmic horror’, one of the central ideas of which is that mankind is meaningless to the universe at large. This is a direct challenge to the prevailing Christian view of earlier times, that mankind was essential to Creation, because God. And even 19C atheists seemed to have a very smug, aren't-we-swell view of humanity. Maybe its because that kind of small-r religious view of the life is less prevalent that explains why Lovecraft’s legacy, amongst his more second-rate followers, seems to have been reduced to pop-culture wowing over the cool monsters with funny names. Few seem to grasp that the Outer Gods are scary because they are gods; debased, insane gods who don’t care about us enough even to punish us.

I'm not religious myself, which is probably why I merely admire Lovecraft’s work as one horror author amongst many rather than hero-worshipping him like some in the horror community (oh, and there’s his repellent racism, too). But I have my own views on life and the horror that I most admire is probably that which challenges these views and throws them back at me in distorted ways. Of course, some opinions I hold are too trivial or subjective to be considered here – my contention that Giant Steps by The Boo Radleys is the most underrated album of the 90s is certainly one that’s been challenged, mainly by my mates in the pub, but such ignoramuses disagreeing are hardly going to destroy my entire world view. But how about these statements, all of which I ‘believe’ to certain degrees and with the usual caveats:

That we have free will, to a greater or lesser degree, and therefore at least some influence over our own destinies.

That logic and cause and effect mean that life is relatively stable and sensible, and that we can understand the reasons why.

That although people don’t have a soul they do have a personality that remains largely the same over their lives.

That despite all the setbacks, society is slowly becoming more civilised and tolerant; we are moving away from the jungle.

All these beliefs are pretty fundamental but I can see that a lot of my stories are essentially trying to test these principles to destruction; to attempt to prove them wrong. The doppelgängers and the ghosts; the conspiracies and the inescapable deaths are all suggestive of the fact that what I believe might be as fundamentally wrong as the idea that humanity is at the centre of you universe. That such fundamental truths are little more than smoke and mirrors. And what could be more horrifying than that?

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Over on Martin Cosby's site, you can find a new interview with me, should you be so inclined. Lots of talk about influences and crippling writer insecurity.

I've always found Lauren James to be a very acute and interesting writer about literary horror, and so I was pleased to see the title story from Falling Over discussed in this excellent piece about the theme of 'the double'.

Occupy!

"The revolution is underway. The mindlessly commercial, the undistinguished and barely literate will no longer be allowed to utterly dominate the genre. Not without a fight anyway." 

I'm delighted to say I've been interviewed over at Uninvited Books - the questions were posed by Robert Dunbar as part of his Occupy Darkness series of interviews, which has featured lots of great authors so far (including Ramsey Campbell) so you can imagine how chuffed I was to be included.

You can read the interview here.

Earlier this week the amazing Cate Gardner wandered into the Jekyll & Hyde pub - either drawn there by mysterious, demonic forces or because she wanted to get out of the rain. Check out the results here.

Find Out....

Find out why the Abominable Gentlemen think Romantic poet Shelley was a bit of dick here...

... find out what I had to say when interviewed on the E-Book Bin site here...

And find out that there's going to be a Phonogram 3 here...! (uh, well, maybe....) And if you don't know why that's such an exciting prospect, check out this essay on the Phonogram graphic novels here...)

Free Words!

The always great Maria Savva has interviewed me about The Other Room over on her Goodreads blog.

And what's more, two lucky people who either leave a Comment or Like the interview will receive a free copy of The Other Room. If you lose on the lottery tonight (hopefully not in the Shirley Jackson sense) then you might find the odds somewhat less than a million to one for this give-away,

Check out the interview here, and don't forget to comment.

p.s. if anyone out there wants to check out my Goodreads profile and send me a friend request, feel free...

Author Interview

If any of you out there want to know even more about what I think about life (and I know you do really...) then I've been interviewed at: Free Book Reviews. Let me know if I'm talking rubbish or even if you agree with some of the things I say.


Most of the the questions are about Feed The Enemy, but others are more general musing on books and short stories..