Q. You have quite a lot of short stories out there – your bio reads that you’ve been published ‘over 150 times across a score of countries and 30 anthologies’ and you also have your own collection Dancing with the Velvet Lizard, which includes a modest thirty-three. So how about picking a couple of your favourites to tell us about?
A: I'm very fond of my story "Dead Monster Walking." It was with that tale I created the foundation for the world in which my novella Monster Town would be set. It's a world where old movie monsters were actually real people – just monstrous people who became actors, and once they were no longer needed became relegated to a rundown suburb of Hollywood.
In addition to that story, my book Tales of my Ancestors features at least one of my direct ancestors in every story – stories which are historically accurate except for a speculative element I've added to each. Despite the fantasy and science fiction components, nothing in the tales clashes with historical records, and each could have happened just as I relay them.
My favorites are "Salem's Fall," which doesn't blame the devil for what happened, but shows him as an interested onlooker to the Salem Witch Trials. I wrote this from the perspective of my great (x7) grandfather after I discovered one of the 13 people hung during the witch trials was his first cousin. I also really like my tale "Micagor's Gold" because I was able to include so many historical figures from the Old West, including Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Pat Garrett, and Cochise, among others. In it, a search for gold ends up in the discovery of an alien spacecraft. I also worked in a speculative explanation for the fact that even after dozens of gunfights during his life, Wyatt Earp was never so much as nicked by a bullet.
Q. What was the first story you got published? And also, how did it all start, how did you get into writing?
A: I decided to become a writer of fiction at age 18, but was waylaid after my first year of college when I was drafted into the Army. Post discharge I found various jobs in journalism to pay the bills, and my fiction career was pushed to the back burner. After a few years of trying to get published as a freelancer, I finally sold my article "Swimsuit Optional Zone" in 1977 to The Progressive – a national news and politics magazine. It was about the nation's only legal nude beach. I went on to sell more than 200 freelance articles/columns before limiting myself to writing only fiction. Though I was a semi-finalist/Honorable Mention for the 1988 Writers of the Future contest, my future was a long way off. I didn't sell my first short story until 2001, just before my first novel was published.
Q. Were you a fan of sci-fi as a kid?
A: Yes. My teenage years were nurtured by a steady diet of Robert Heinlein books – which is probably why some people see a similarity to his style in my work. I also read a lot of Mark Twain (who has some sci-fi stories) and Robert Howard's Conan books (which, of course, are fantasy).
Q. In an old interview you mention an apocalyptic novel you spent over twenty years working on. Is the said novel your recent release, After the End?
A: Yes. Not that I worked on it continuously for 20 years, but it was always in my mind, and I wrote various pieces of it here and there.
Q. The book is divided into sections, all of which could be novels within themselves. Was it difficult to keep the length of each section down and yet cover all the ground necessary?
A: No, length is rarely a problem with me. I tend to write very short chapters, and do so in a very dialogue-rich cinematic style. At least that's what I've been told. In After The End I wanted to explore different ways people would adapt – what kinds of cultures might emerge – after a collision with a comet wipes out Earth's civilizations and more than 99 percent of its population.
Q. Another of your recent novels is Monster Town, (previously mentioned above) which I’ve heard may become a TV series. Any news on this?
A: I wouldn't exactly say it was stuck in "Development Hell," but I've learned the production of a TV series takes quite a bit of time, and must endure various evolutions. Of course the biggest impediment as been COVID 19, which shut down Hollywood completely for more than a year. The good news is that they still love the idea, and are still working to get it done.
Q. As a life-long film buff and former movie reviewer, how about the state of cinema today? Your thoughts?
A: Leaving aside the effects of COVID for the moment, the good news is that with modern special effects, there's nothing – no science fiction premise – they can't make into a movie these days. The bad news is producers tend to rely too much on special effects and action sequences, and not enough on good writing and storytelling. They believe that's where the money is, and they tend to reduce audiences to the lowest common denominator … which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Q. What else can you tell us about your work as a journalist?
A: I think of it as another lifetime ago, now that I only write fiction. But I began as freelance magazine writer, became a magazine editor and art director who was often hired to create brand new publications, then moved to radio where I did a lot of things, including being the station's entertainment/feature reporter. From there I moved on to become a producer of local TV news. Though I wouldn't go back to any of it, it all provided me with a solid foundation as a writer.
Q. What’s the most obscure or unexpected piece of inspiration you’ve had that ended up leading to a story?
A: The strangest connection my brain has made was between a scene in "2001: A Space Odyssey" and an old Cheech and Chong skit titled "Dave's Not Here." In both cases someone won't let Dave in. The short-short bit of satire I wrote combining those two things has been one of my most popular stories, published several times in various countries around the world.
Q. Sounds interesting. So after being a writer for so long, what advice do you have for other writers just starting out?
A: That's hard to say, because all writers – all humans – are different. We all work differently. The standard line is to say, "write, write, and then write some more." That's always good advice. But also read, read, and read plenty in the genre you want to write in. Most of all, write about what interests you. It's hard, lonely work that rarely pays much, so you should at least work on stuff you like.
Q. Fair enough. And as a final question, what are you working on at the moment? Any new stories or novels in the works?
A: I've just finished a novel which I believe covers new ground in science fiction – something not easy to do. I don't want to give away too much, because there's a rather shocking reveal at the end of the first chapter. But I will say it involves artificial intelligence, an alien race, and a deadly virus – with the disclaimer that I began writing this book long before anyone ever heard of COVID 19. If that interests you, keep a lookout for The Omega Legacy.
Thanks very much for the interview Bruce Golden.
You can find Bruce Golden's amazon page here
connect with him on goodreads here
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