LOS ANGELES, May 24 – Yes, it was my big idea.

And my own fault.

Ask people to write in with their own questions and know what you get?

Exactly what you fucking well deserve.

Which is to say, not a few questions that cut pretty well to the quick on a few topics and require a deal of thought and labor.

So much for the easy as shit filler entry I was angling for.

So, I asked for questions regarding my work, as well as writing and publishing in general. I requested no more than two questions per player. And I required an actual name, as opposed to an email address or online ID. I’ve pared out salutations etc, but the questions themselves have been clipped and pasted directly from the emails I received. In some cases, points made outside the body of the questions seemed relevant and I’ve kept those in place.

Let’s play.

From Em Wreford:
1) Why is my new copy of “Dangerous Man,” bought from Amazon, MISSING pages 89 through 120, with in their place a duplicate of later pages in the story?

Em, I could claim it was printer’s error, but that would be a boldfaced attempt to pawn my malfeasance off upon others. The truth is I’ve been surreptitiously taking pages from the books of randomly selected readers, and replacing those pages with ones taken from the books of other unfortunate readers, as part of a nation wide experiment in behavior modification. Whew, glad I finally got this off my chest.
Please see the email I sent you for instructions as to how you may be removed from the experiment. Or is that just another part of the experiment? You’ll never know! (insert evil laughter here)

2) What are you working on now and any notions of when a new tome by you might grace the shelves of the bookshops?

Currently I’m editing an L.A. based crime book and doing some work for Marvel. My latest, THE SHOTGUN RULE, will be on the shelves misbehaving and embarrassing the books next to it with its incessant flatulence at the end of August.

From Ray Zimmerman
1) Have you ever considered doing a female lead chatacter? i’d love to see you write a real bad-ass chick (like Brian Bendis’ Jessica Jones from his ‘Alias’ series, not the toned down version in his ‘Pulse’ series)

Ray, yes, I have. I’ve got a female cop in mind, and I’ve even written a couple short stories with her as the protagonist. I’m hoping to use her in a novel in the next couple years. In the meantime, keep you eyes peeled for two upcoming anthologies: FUCK NOIR and A HELL OF A WOMAN. Both will include stories featuring Detective Elizabeth “The Whacker” Borden. I’ll post release details when I have them.

2) Are you finding it easier or harder to write a stand-alone novel than when you’re writing a book that is part of a series? it seems like your story ideas are often too large for a single volume (e.g. the thompson and pitt books).

Hard to say. My first stand alone is the upcoming release THE SHOTGUN RULE. It was the most difficult book I’ve yet written, but that had more to do with some conscious changes in style than it did the fact it was not part of a series. In general, starting cold, whether a stand alone or the first book in a series is a bit trickier than a book that comes in the midst of a series. With a series you have a minimum of roadmap going in. That helps in moments of doubt.

From Jacob Kohl:
1) When you write Moon Knight you have a very unique view of almost 100 issues of continuity. How did you decide what part of the mythos to incorporate into the character when you first started writing, and which to disgard entirely?

Jacob, I tried not to reject any of the Moon Knight continuity outright. There are certainly some bits I have no interest in taking on, but in my mind I’ve taken in all as gospel and tried not to contradict any bits that may seem awkward to me. I’ve tried hardest to embrace the original Moench continuity and later stories that best fit his work. The biggest change I made was to update Moon Knight’s origin from the late 70s to the early 90s and incorporate Gulf War I as part of that origin. The biggest character change was interpreting Jean-Paul as gay. There’s nothing in the continuity to suggest this might be the case, but neither did I find that his past barred it as a possibility. Generally, some culling has to occur, but the Moon Knight continuity map I’ve built in my head doesn’t deny anything that I’ve read. Although some of the bits from his time in the West Coast Avengers could cause fits.

2) In the comic medium your are slowly establishing yourself as a talent to behold. The Moon Knight behind you, is there anything you’d love to do inside the comic medium?

There are more than I few things I’d love t write, but time and opportunity will govern what I can take on. I loved writing the MAN THING short I did for MARVEL’S LEGION OF MONSTERS and would love to do more like that. I am currently working on a miniseries for Marvel, but I’m not allowed to talk about it as yet. I will say that it’s another classic character from the 70s.

Jacob adds:
Rats do fart. What’s more? They also leave a trail of urine where ever they walk. They can also laugh.
P.S. How about you post a little taste of Shotgun Rule? Please?

Thanks for filling my gaps in rodentology. And I am planning to post some SHOTGUN RULE. Hopefully before the end of June.

From Christopher L. Young:
1) Crime fiction seems to becoming more popular lately. Do you think the market is becoming over saturated with less than quality work?

Christopher, I’d say it’s more a case that the bulk of reading material, both genre and non-genre, is less than quality work, and that this has always been the case. I don’t mean to suggest that my own beats the averages, but I think it’s the nature of the beast that when your dealing with art/entertainment, most of it’s going to be mediocre to ass-bad, and very little of it is going to be good, let alone excellent. Mind, I’m a picky bastard, but I’d think there’s far more shit out there to read, view, look at and listen to than there is real quality.

2) How much of the content in your works changed due to publishers and the editing process?

Not all that much. Most of the work I do with my editors, thus far, has been mostly at the detail level. Tweaking a character, trimming a scene, firming continuity. The biggest exception to that rule has been THE SHOTGUN RULE. I tried some very different things with the style and, to a lesser extent, the content. The overall effect the book produced in first draft was very different from the previous books. Some fairly large scale renovations were recommended. “Recommended” is a word to note. My editor and publisher did not demand changes or impose them, they expressed their concerns, and my editor made some suggestions, but whether to apply them was my decision. Some good points were made, some good ideas proposed, and I found some inspiration and made changes. It’s not a better or a worse book for those changes, but it is certainly different. It would be easy to dig in your heels in that kind of situation and just say FUCK NO! But it was more interesting to try and change, stay flexible, and learn something new about writing as both a business and a craft.

From Brandon Flick:
1) Last time I saw you, (at Mysteries to Die For. Signing for A Dangerous Man) you said you didn’t have any plans to write anything outside of Marvel. (I still think you need to check out John Constantine, Hellblazer with DC/Vertigo. You’d love that stuff.) So, aside from the Ultimates Annual, Man-Thing, and Moon Knight (don’t you dare stop writing MK. As long as you can hold out anyways.) has Joe or anyone else at Marvel asked you to write anything else and you’ve turned it down (whether because you didn’t know the character well or because of an intimidation factor involved)?

Brandon, yes, some other characters have come up. A couple opportunities involved vampire related titles. I passed on the chance to pitch ideas for those books primarily because I write my own vampire novels. I figure I only got so many decent ideas for bloodsucker stories and I better keep them for myself. I’ve also had chances to pitch Elektra and Hulk ideas. I passed on Elektra mostly because I was such a fan of the original Frank Miller Dare Devil’s that featured her and I couldn’t see going up against that yardstick. The chance to pitch Hulk was intriguing, but I know little or nothing about the big green guy and it would have required a huge amount of research just to be able to pitch something I’d have been comfortable with.

2) Regarding the Henry Thompson trilogy, without trying to ruin it for anyone else or shout spoilers, what made you want end the series the way it did?

A simply as possible: it was the most honest ending I could think of.

From Jason Grubbs:
1) Have you, through your professional relationship with Marvel Comics or otherwise, given any consideration to a graphic novel treatment of the Joe Pitt stories? Combined with that question have you ever thought about directions that could develop, such as in addition to a graphic interpretation of the stories mini-series that fill in back-story and/or allow for sidetracking or single shot stories (whereas the novels have a definitive arc, these could just be individual cases that Joe becomes involved with throughout the course of his life, that may provide shading to the character)?

Jason, I have played with the idea of a Joe Pitt graphic novel. I’ve no idea when it might happen, but I feel like it’s something that I will do some day. In my mind I’ve always thought of straight forward graphic interpretations of the novels. However, I do think there might be new Joe tales to tell after book five of the series. I’ve got a micro-short Joe Pitt story on the JOE PITT page of this site, and I’ll certainly do more of those. And while I’ll never return to Hank Thompson, I could see filling in some of Joe’s history after the series concludes. But that would likely be many years down the line.

2) Interesting reference in a recent journal entry to Sea Launch - was fascinating to see and I appreciated your thought of struggling as a writer to make up cool things for stories while there are things that exist in reality that exceed your imaginings. With that in mind, as kind of a foreshadowing that site readers may remember and appreciate when they surface, what are three things that you’ve seen or discovered that you hope to incorporate into future stories? (As a word of explanation I’m thinking of something like a sequence in a novel that transpires in a comics expo to incorporate some of the interesting people and things you’ve witnessed there, or setting an action sequence aboard a Sea Launch type vessel, etc.)?

Really good question. In no order and without explanation: Forest Lawn, The Buggy Whip Lounge, inorganic Fullerenes.

From Bob Harris:
1) Have you pulled all your hair out yet becuase Zito has yet to deliver for the Giants? As a Braves fan I can tell you I went through the same process with our ex-A’s ace Tim Hudson for the first two years in the ATL. It looks like he’s turned it around so far this season, but I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop (he didn’t do so well in Boston the other night.)

Bob, open a beer and stretch your legs, this could take me awhile. First, I’ve not forgotten the ‘93 season and I’m making a special exception including a Braves’ fan in this little Q&A. Second, I need every strand of hair I have left and will need to find something else to yank out if/when Zito compels me. My soul perhaps. No, too late, already sacrificed that to the devil in exchange for seeing the Warriors in the post season. Right, baseball, Barry Zito, the highest paid pitcher in the FUCKING HISTORY of the game. Is he bugging me yet by being veeery mediocre?
Not really.
Way I see it, it’s still pretty early in the season, it’s still veeery early in his insanity of a contract, and it’s not like the offense has been giving the guy a hand. Has he had some utter crap starts? Oh my he has indeed. What ya gonna do? It happens. I certainly expected him to be more of a force coming to the NL from the AL, but there’s a long way to go. And from what I hear he shows his colors more in the second half of the season. Knowing it was madness to give a pitcher, or anyone not curing cancer for a living, that kind of money, I was still happy about the signing, and I’m not yet prepared to pile off the wagon. Also, the fact that the starting rotation in general has pitched very well makes it the pill go down much smoother. Now if we can generate a few fucking runs we might be able to get about 86 wins.

2) Are you reading the new Vertigo book, “Scalped”? Great crime comic.

Hadn’t heard about that one. Thanks for the tip.

Fro Philip Rogers
1) Question #1: Where do you draw inspiration for your crime stories?

Philip, hard one to answer. It’s kind of like, “Where do you get your ideas.” Fucked if I know is one answer. I think it was Isaac Asimov that said every night he left out a little milk and cookies and every morning there was a little pile of ideas. Anyway, hard to say exactly. I’m very influenced by classic noir. Specifically by Hammett and Chandler. I very specifically work a Chandler vein in the Joe Pitt books. I’m equally influenced by classic film noir, and neo-noir of the ‘70s. Some inspiration comes from stories I read in the papers or online. Some comes from a phrase someone might pass in conversation. A person at a bus stop might have an appearance that suggests character which suggests a history which suggests actions which suggests consequences. Comes from everywhere, man.

2)When can we expect your next Joe Pitt novel?

The next Pitt, HALF THE BLOOD OF BROOKLYN will be released on December 26th of this year. Merry Christmas.

From Pete Hunter:
1) Are you planning any east coast signing tours this year? I’ve noticed that you usually tour out west when a new book comes out. I know you live out there, but I’m positive there are plenty of people out here who will come out and show you some love (myself and everyone I’ve recommended your work to included).

Pete, I actually only moved out here last year. Before that all my gigs were in NYC. As for coming out and showing some East Coast love, nothing would make me happier. Truth is, it just costs more money and the tour budgets on midlist noir/horror writers are not, shall we say, extravagant. The fact that such a budget exists at all is something of a wonder. Unless something earth shattering happens, I won’t make it out for the release of THE SHOTGUN RULE. I might make it out for HALF THE BLOOD OF BROOKLYN. What may help would be to enlist your local bookstore. If they’d like to have me make an appearance, have them contact the publicity department at Del Rey and put in a request. Oddly enough, many tour stops get booked just because a store shows interest and pledges to support a book’s release. Hope to see you out there.

From Don Price:
1) Seeins’ how you have shown an interest with all the cool (and not so cool) things they’ve done to your book covers in the Cover Gallery- What do you think of the cover Amazon is currently displaying for The Shotgun Rule ?

Don, I rather like it. When I do an update on the site I’ll display this cover along with the first iteration the design department did. That one I did not care for. The color scheme, typeface and layout were all pretty much they same, including the shotgun shell motif, but the central image was a very vague slice of roadway. I felt the image wasn’t specific enough. The current design has a element of foreboding that I like, and it also ties quite closely to the actual content of the book. Something you don’t get much of. When the design was revised I asked for an image that would embrace either the setting, a working class suburb, or the primary cast, four teenage delinquents, this design accommodates both elements and also surprised me with the approach. Folks who haven’t seen it can find it HERE.

From Jeff Gabriele:
1) Are you writing a new joe pitt book,if so when do you
think it will come out?

Jeff, see release for the new Pitt above. I’m also getting ready to write the fourth Pitt book and plan for five in all.

From Joe Sinisi:
1) What comics (graphic novels or otherwise) are you reading/enjoy reading now?

Joe, in no order, I’ve been enjoying Astonishing X-Men for some time. Also Fell, The Goon, and Scott Pilgrim. Grant Morrison’s All Star Superman, also Morrison’s Batman. Doc Frankenstein.

2) And while this may be a little dated, if you’ve read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, what did you think of it?

I though it was a lovely book. I felt it got a bit untracked toward the end, rather as if Chabon tried to engineer something overly spectacular to live up to the sheer wonderfulness of what had come before. But that’s nitpicking. I think I mentioned above that I’m a picky bastard. And motherfucker writes like a fucking angel. I love that kind of rich prose, but find it entirely beyond me. Hard for a guy who writes sentences like “I bite her eye out.” to poke holes Chabon’s work.

From Erik Jodo:
1) Do you have any ideas for another ongoing series of novels once you finish the Joe Pitt casebooks or are you going to continue writing stand alone stuff like The Shotgun Rule?

Erik, a little from column A and a little from column B. I’m currently editing a book that I envision as the start of a new crime series, but not a book-a-year kind of series. I picture myself returning to these characters every other year or so. Next I’m working on Joe Pitt 4, and after that another stand alone. Just depends of where the ideas are.

2) Do you sit at home sometimes and think up different ways to answer the same questions you are asked all the time in interviews? That must suck.

Dude, yes. And, yes, it does. At first I tried very hard to make all the answers as original and different as possible, but as a certain point the brain revolts and you start regurgitating. I resist the urge to simply eat my own vomit and puke it up again, but it happens from time to time.

From Jim Sorrentino:
Please discuss the martial arts and meditation practices of the Enclave.
1) What are their sources?

Jim, they’re really all made up. I wanted to include a religious order and glommed onto a vision of them as a kind of shaolin vampire cult. I did recently get involved in an email strand with some friends about early Christians that suggested that some principles of certain Gnostics are not unlike Enclave principles. Specifically, there was something about transmuting earthly flesh into spirit while remaining on a corporeal plane. Mind, I’m drawing on a faulty memory and interpreting some casual observations. Anyway, The Enclave stuff is totally fictional and not terrible well fleshed out, I’m afraid. It will get expanded a bit in future books.

2)Who are their teachers?

Me?

FOLLOWING QUESTION AND ANSWER INCLUDES A SIX BAD THINGS SPOILER!!!!

From John Brinkman:

1) Just wondering what Hank’s rationale was for offing his friend Tim at the end of “Six Bad Things” … I thought this was a little out of character… was it due to the drug-induced haze he was in, or did he just really, really, really not want to know where the money was at that point? Unless I missed something major (very possible – I do most of my reading half-asleep on the bus), this was the first life I thought Hank took for no particular reason…

John, you are far from the first to ask. The idea was meant to be that Hank was doped up and believed he was having another of his dreams. In the context of the dream he shot Timmy. Thus the remorse when he realizes what he’s done. However, sometimes a writer nails this shit, and sometimes not. The sheer number of people who have asked me what the hell happed here pretty much tells me I missed the mark somewhat. And so we learn.

From Andrew Lankford:
1) What gets you more excited about writing, novels or comics, and why?

Andrew, it’s a bit apples and oranges, but ultimately it’s the novels. They’re more truly mine, the canvas is as large as I want it to be, and the freedom is as close to limitless as you could want. Comics allow for a different kind of freedom, and I’ve been given quite a bit of rope to hang myself at Marvel, but they are structurally quite rigid. That, more than any issues regarding content or the fact that the characters are not “mine”, is what has them running second for me. Building a page, panel by panel, trying to balance what happens on the page, coordinating action, not overfilling panels with text, etc…man, that shit is hard work. My hat is off to the folks who make it look easy.

2) How do you effectively balance your time between them?

The novels come first. Just has to be that way. I love doing the comics and I take them very seriously, but the novels are my bread and butter and where I get my biggest jollies. I work on novels, and when I have natural pauses in that process I work on comics. I will say that being able to go from one to the other has, I think, made me a better writer overall. It’s nice, when a novel needs a rest or when a draft has been turned in, to have other, very different, work to turn to. It allows you to keep exercising the brain while allowing the tired bits to rest.

From Kelly Fox:
1) Have only one question, as you’ve branched out from crime/thriller to the mystical and comic books… are there any more crime/thrillers in the works, a-la Hank Thompson? Or are those pesky vampires and super-heroes keeping you far too busy?

Kelly, more crime on the way. The aforementioned THE SHOTUN RULE, straight-up crime, will be out at the end of August. And more new crime in fall of ‘08.

From Tucker Christine:
1) Would you ever consider a Joe Pitt comic book - either an adaptation or an entirely new story?

Tucker, you’ll find this one answered up above.

From Tim Moscato:
1) Are you serious when you say, “I don’t have visions of my books that need to be protected or any shit like that”?

Tim, certainly. This is not to say I wouldn’t like to see them made into movies. But not because I’m all that interested in seeing them on the silver screen. My interest is more about filthy lucre. After all, they pay you when they actually make a movie out of one of your books. Brilliant! But I’ve already written the books. And I didn’t write the books because I thought that was a great way to get a movie made. It’s not, by the way. If you have a story you want to see made into a movie, write a damn screenplay. The end product of a novel is not a movie, it is a novel. Do I have bits and pieces of visualized action from some of my books? You bet, but I do not have creative visions of them as movies. Nor do I feel that the text is sacrosanct. A movie is not a book. Someone options one of my books, I thoroughly expect them to turn it inside out to make it into a film. And I don’t give a shit how they do it. The book I wrote won’t disappear if someone makes it into a less than faithful movie. Ideally, yes, I’d like any movie versions of my books to be outstanding. And, yes, I would be disappointed by a shitty movie version of any of my books. But thems the breaks. No one is holding a gun to my head. If I’m fortunate enough to have someone offer to pay for the rights to film my work, I don’t have to say yes. If I do say yes, I better be prepared for the eventuality that I may not like what they do. Of course, the more likely ending to that scenario is that nothing happens at all.

From Chad Gifford:
1) How did you pick an agent? I’ve been trying the route of sending my submissions directly to the publishers and that hasn’t worked, so I’d like to try going the other direction. Knowing how you did it might help. (I promise to put you in my acknowledgments if it works!)

Chad, wish I could help you here, man. Truth is, I met my first agent through a friend, and my second agent through my first agent (I still work with both). All I know is to get a good book on submitting query letters, a directory of agencies, and follow the directions. I’d plop down in front of the writing/publishing section at your local B&N and start flipping through books and see what you find.

2) How do you deal with critics that say that the use of foul language in writing is “sophomoric” or juvenile? Many people that I deal with assert that a good writer “doesn’t need” to use this language. Of course, none of these people are good writers, so what do they know?!

What the fuck are you talking about with that “sophomoric” and “juvenile” shit? Fucking A, man, I’ve been cursing like this since I was fucking six. This shit is full on motherfucking elementary school shit! Ahem. Chad, seriously, fuck those people. Last time I checked, people actually curse in real life. If you’re writing about people who might actually curse in real life, it fits to have them fucking well curse. The moment I start writing about Queen Elizabeth II I’ll make a point of not having her call anyone a fucking cunt. Until then, I’ll not be worrying about it. Just do what works and is suitable to the story you’re writing. It’s good and proper to be able to express yourself without an f-bomb, and I can do so myself, but that has nothing to do with writing fiction.

From Antonio P. Cuneo:
1) If you were given the opportunity to adapt one of your own books into a film would you? and which one would it be first?

Antonio, if I was going to get involved in the screen trade, and I won’t deny and interest, I’d be far happier adapting someone else’s work or writing something original. The idea of adapting my own stories sound pretty boring. However, assuming I was paid, or had some reason to hope I would be paid, a proper sum I’d be happy to whore out that particular orifice. I don’t have a clear cinematic idea of any of my books, but I’d probably choose the new one, THE SHOTGUN RULE.

2) If there was any comic project that you could do what would it be? From DC, Marvel, or even creator owned.

As mentioned above, I do hope to do a Joe Pitt graphic novel some day, but the existing character I sometimes daydream about is Vision. One of my favorites from way back.

And that’s enough of that. If you sent some questions before the post date of this entry and I did not answer them, that’s means I didn’t get them. Appologies, spam filter, the perils of modern technology, blahblahblah.

Clamming up,

Charlie