Why write?

For me, at least, I think it is some deep-down need to tell stories. There is an immeasurable thrill sharing a good yarn with people, which I am sure is why our ancestors have been doing it since they built the first campfire. There is also a tremendous escapism in reading that no other media will ever be able to match. There is just something very intimate about the way a book crawls into the reader’s mind. In the process of writing, I find that it likewise allows you to slip into another world, to set aside the mundane and, even if only for a few hours or days, speculate upon things beyond the daily drudgery.

If you didn’t write, what would you do?

If not writing, I honestly couldn’t say what I would do. As far back as I can remember I’ve been an avid reader and always wanted to be an author and tell my own stories. Game design, maybe. I did consider entering the Army way back, but don’t trust my temper around weapon systems that could level an entire city block at the push of a button. Besides, the politicians interfere far too much with the ancient profession of soldiering these days.

If you could hunt any speculative fiction creature ever imagined (except one of your own), would you?

I have a very peculiar stance on hunting. I see only two reasons for ever hunting another creature. The first, quite obviously is for food. Not knowing how a fantasy creature tastes, I’d have to rule that rationale right out. The second would be for protection. Certain predators develop a decided penchant for ‘long pig’ once they’ve had a taste. Such animals, sadly, need to be put down. Even in these instances, I feel a decided amount of ‘sporting chance’ is incumbent upon the hunter. Strafing an animal from a plane with a machine gun like they would do in the 50’s is hardly my idea of sport, or hunting for that matter.

Which one?

I’m tempted to say, of course, the Tyrannosaurus from Bradbury’s ‘A Sound of Thunder’, but that would be the easy answer. For me, I think the Worm from Robert E. Howard’s ‘Valley of the Worm’ would probably be the most magnificent creature to pit oneself against.

Why?

Well, with the Worm there is no question of its needing to be killed. It is an intelligent beast, utterly malefic and hostile to human existence. If there was ever something that could be hunted with a clear conscience, it would be the Worm. Besides, given the Worm’s grotesque physiognomy, stalking it in a Tiger tank probably wouldn’t begin to shift the odds in my favor.

If you could have any speculative fiction creature ever imagined (except one of your own) as a pet, would you?

So long as I didn’t have to feed the bloody thing. I think everyone has that bit of childlike wonder that has always made them desire to hold and interact with something unusual and exotic, a weird ambassador of alien worlds.

Which one?

The pteranodon Turu from ‘Jonny Quest’.

Why?

I’ve always had a thing for reptiles, and most especially flying reptiles. My favorite movie has always been ‘Rodan’ – I’ve probably seen that film three or four times a year since I was six. Anyway, Rodan is a bit too big, but there’s another creature that has the same amount of charm from my childhood. Every Saturday morning growing up, my wake-up call was the pteranodon in the opening credits of ‘Jonny Quest’. Turu was a prehistoric survival that selflessly obeyed his master and was robust enough to take shots from a bazooka. Add wings to that mixture, and I think you have the best pet imaginable. Especially if you have creditors.

You are on a holodeck: You’re sitting in an intergalactic bar, sipping your favorite beverage, waiting expectantly for someone to take a seat at your table. Which author from any era does?

Walter B. Gibson.

Why?

Gibson was the creator of The Shadow, and wrote the bulk of the original 325 novels back in the 30’s and 40’s under the ‘Maxwell Grant’ pen name.

What do you talk about or do?

I think the thing I’d most want to discuss with Gibson is what technique or strategy he employed to manage the simply staggering word-counts he would manage. For several years he was knocking out over 100,000 words a month just for The Shadow. Indeed, I believe he still holds the record for the largest volume of fiction pieces composed in a single year.

More importantly, which chair does he sit in?

I’m not sure which chair Gibson would sit in. I only know that it would certainly be in the shadows.

Why Shintaro Oba? What initiated his story and made you complete this particular tale?

Shintaro Oba is a character I have been working on for about three years now. I have a huge interest in Japanese cinema – not just the Godzilla stuff but Kurosawa samurai films, yakuza crime-thrillers, even the blood-thirsty karate flicks made by Toei studios back in the day. I have always felt that Oriental culture and mythology present a largely untapped resource for western fantasy fiction. There are all kinds of weird magical traditions, demons, ghosts and monsters that are unique to Asia and which are mostly unknown in the western world. I am a huge fan of Robert E Howard’s work, but any time you create a barbarian or a witch hunter or similar character, inevitably you are going to invite comparisons. I figured that a samurai, and more importantly the mindset of a samurai, would be a good way to approach similarly themed stories in a way that Howard never did.

What appealed to you about being included in Rage of the Behemoth?

I love my monsters, so an anthology themed around giant rampaging beasts was right up my alley. I also felt that Oba and his monstrous adversary would offer something very unique against more familiar creatures like dragons and giants.

Do you write/read aloud to/with anyone (family member or friend)?

No, afraid not. Writing for me is a very private experience and one I don’t choose to share until I feel I have gotten everything just right.

Quick: For each of the below, what’s your first thought in regards to the future of genre fiction:

Publishing: Dying, dead, on life support – or just going through a change? If it’s any of the first three, will it be euthanized or revitalized?

I think publishing is just going through a change. Readers will always be there and they will always want to be told new stories. I think the biggest thing is that there will be a bit of a culling period where publishers pull in the reins and stop producing quite so many shelf-warmers as they do now. Once the belt is tightened though, I think they’ll appreciate the market better.

Reading Formats: Print, electronic, audio, or interactive?

Print, I feel, will never go away. Electronic devices for reading just never seem to catch on. The techies buy them, but common folk normally give them a pass. Plus, there is something about owning a tangible medium. I think that is why DVDs have nothing to fear from digital downloads (albeit the rental market has a lot to be afraid of).

Books: Hardcover, trade paperback, mass market, other?

I think the trade paperback is quickly eroding the hardcover market. Mass market paperbacks will always have their place however, and I don’t think anything will replace them any time soon.

Preference for reading/writing: Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Horror Fiction?

I read a lot of different things, but mostly fantasy and horror with healthy doses of mystery and adventure thrown in. I also read a lot of nonfiction history for research. I prefer writing fantasy, though I have dabbled in sci-fi and horror in the past.

Thank you for kick-starting the Rage of the Behemoth interviews with some terrific answers, Clint!

C.L. Werner’s “The Rotten Bones Rattle” appears under the ‘Ageless Mountains’ theme in Rage of the Behemoth. Werner is the author of several on-going fantasy series in the Black Library’s Warhammer setting.

An opening excerpt

Cold as the wintry breath of the northern sea, thick as strands of gossamer, grey fog rolled down the wooded slopes, shrouding all in its spectral mantle. Trees, thin as rails and crooked as the fingers of a crone, leered from the misty shadows. Jagged slivers of shale jutted up from the desiccated ground like daggers of stone, their crumbling surfaces pitted by the elements and hoary with age. Thorny brambles squatted in the blinding murk, their spindly roots enjoying only the most fragile purchase in the rocky soil, their scrawny branches splayed like the claws of jungle beasts, waiting for whatever hapless prey might stumble into their coils.

A lone figure picked his way through the forsaken landscape, stalking past the thorn-ridden bushes and sickly trees. Fog swirled about the traveler as his dark shape drifted through the trees. His was an imposing visage; a tall man of pantherish build, his body encased in thick scales and plates of iron, overlapping to form a skin of metal that covered him from crown to shin. Beneath the bright red sash that girded his waist, two swords were thrust. The hilt of the smaller sword, a fang-like wakizashi, was brilliant even in the gloomy fog, a sea of small sapphires upon which tiny ships of gold rode an endless tide. The slender uchigatana was shabby beside its opulent companion, its sheath of sandal-wood marked only with fading paint, its hilt fashioned from a worn knob of bone…

Watch for review praise for “The Rotten Bones Rattle” and Rage of the Behemoth!

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