Influences

I just finished interviewing Joel Jenkins for my spot on the Dire Planet Digital Book Tour for Pulpwork Press. The interview will be posted soon, so you'll get Joel's really great response at that time, as well as the short interview and a review of Dire Planet from yours truly.

What I wanted to talk about instead are influences and inspiration. It's a question I've been asked pretty frequently and it's not always an easy one to answer as something completely random can have a profound influence on a project.

For example Fallen came about from the challenge of National Novel Writing Month and the idea itself came about from a combination of watching The Prophecy with Christopher Walken, the visual look of Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII, and being stuck in traffic on my way to class back in September of 2005.

Chasing The Dragon on the other hand all came about as the result of an online conversation with Doug Bookey and the novel I just began work on, Elias Starr and the Prometheus Engine, owes everything to me randomly coming up with that name last year while students in a class I was substitute teaching for were taking a test.

But when it comes to the authors I admire and who probably influence my work or at least my worldview, there are a few people that come to mind.


Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. - Without a doubt, one of the greatest writers in history and a man whose death saddened me. If I had the choice of meeting any writer, it would be him. Vonnegut had this strange way of showing such a cynical view of humanity while still giving you hope and making you laugh. He pointed out the absurdities in life and his own quotes from interviews or essays are often just as entertaining as the satirical novels he wrote. I don't claim to even begin to try writing like Vonnegut because the man is without equal and whenever someone tries to imitate him, they end up falling flat. Vonnegut had a pure voice all his own that can never be duplicated and that's something I try to strive for in my own work.

Grant Morrison - Some of you might be asking, "who's that?" And it's an understandable reaction. Others may be rolling their eyes and saying, "oh gods, not him." But for the record, Grant Morrison is a comic book writer and he's done some high-profile work on characters like Superman, Batman, the Justice League and the X-Men. He's also written a lot of creator-owned work, often times far superior to the company owned characters. You've heard of The Matrix but were you aware most of that story first appeared in Morrison's creator-owned comic series called The Invisibles? Morrison does an amazing job of mixing complex themes with old fashioned action, big and original ideas as well as a helping dose of great dialogue.

Bret Easton Ellis - When my editor, the lovely Kelly Rabagliati, first went through Chasing The Dragon, she was amazed at the graphic nature of some of the scenes. And the answer to how I was able to write them was simple--I've read American Psycho. And for anyone who has read that book as well will know that even the most graphic scene in Chasing The Dragon is completely tame compared to almost all of Patrick Bateman's murders. Ellis also has a gift for satire, however, and his scathing critique of the 80s yuppie culture comes into full focus not only in American Psycho but also Lunar Park.

Philip K. Dick - If you want to write science fiction, there is no doubt in my mind--you must read at least some of Dick's work. My particular favorite to date has to be Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which was the basis for Blade Runner. And although that movie was a cinematic masterpiece, it really does pale in comparison to the novel, especially the themes dealing with religion.

William S. Burroughs - Not so much of an influence, more of a "I wish I could do that shit" feeling. For those who read Burroughs' cut-up novels like Naked Lunch, you'll know exactly what I mean. The cut-up technique was nothing but pure genius and although his books are often comprehensible, there is a lot to be gleaned from them.

Haruki Murakami - You want a great dose of profound, human emotion mixed with beautifully-crafted prose and a nice helping of what I like to call whatthefuckery--then you must read Murakami. I've talked about him a bit more in length in my review of Norwegian Wood, so scroll down for that.