we are insanely interesting, so they should brace themselves.
SS: Yes. Our insane interesting-ness is blinding. Or deafening. Whichever.
questions and hope for fun answers. Ready?
SS: I am!
ARC. What made you finally give in? Will I be getting an ARC of the
new book?
SS: Mostly I gave in because I was terrified that your stalking would get
worse. And the restraining order was taking FOREVER. No, I fought for
the ARC for you because you struck me as an honest reader who wouldn’t
read with an agenda, something that happens all the time with new
authors. You’d pushed hard for good books by other “unknown” writers,
so I figured you’d give me a fair shake. And yes, of course, you’ll be
getting an ARC of the new one!
lover to read it. Have you consider an audiobook version of it? I
happen to know lots of readers who would love that.
SS: And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. It means a lot
to me. I would love to do an audio book. I’ve actually considered
posting a couple of Podcast readings on my web site. I read all of my
manuscripts aloud before letting anyone read them, so I’ve gotten
pretty good at it. Audiobooks can be prohibitively expensive for
publishers, so I can only hope it sells well enough to justify making
one.
SS: I don’t think that way much, and I can’t quite remember why I started
thinking that Alice’s name should be Wynter, aside from the obvious,
which is that coldness, both physical and emotional, are themes in the
book. It just felt right to me, I guess.
day at your day job thinking, “I should kill someone” and then “It
would be safer to do it in writing”?
SS: Ha! Fortunately, I don’t have too many days like that. Oh, hell, who
am I kidding? A lot of days are like that. Seriously, Dead of Wynter
was a much more personal story. My mother’s side of the family was
plagued by some persistent rumors about a murder among cousins in the
1940′s or 50′s. Then, when my uncle, who’d had some problems with
alcohol, died young, I put the two things together. That seed of an
idea that became Dead of Wynter.
LOVESICK and will be published in April of 2012, hopefully in
hardcover. All except the genre is tentative, particularly the
hardcover part. LOVESICK has all the family dysfunction and darkness
of Dead of Wynter but with series potential. Oh, and there’s a sample
chapter now at the end of Dead of Wynter!
SS: This is easy. I love those words they used in the old Batman show from
the 60′s and in comic books. Words like “boing” and “bonk.” I
sometimes use words like this in my short stories because I love the
way they convey a kind of macabre sense of humor in horrible
situations. For example, here’s a bit of flash fiction: She approached
her husband from behind, on tip-toes, the claw hammer in her right
fist raised high. A moment later, just after he turned and saw what
she was about to do, the hammer sank into his forehead with a dull,
satisfying *thunk*.
that you won’t tell anyone less insanely interesting than us?
SS: The back-cover blurb for LOVESICK is here:
http://www.spencerseidel.com/books/lovesick. Inside stuff? Sure, okay.
My original manuscript was reviewed by a psychologist, a lawyer who
works as an investigator for a prosecutor, and another lawyer friend
of mine. Their comments gave me one of those DUH! moments that led me
to a frenzied 3-day editing session. I rewrote large portions of the
manuscript while keeping the story/plot structure mostly the same. I
think the result is a better book. Hopefully, my publisher will agree.
And yes, I was slightly terrified to have a real psychologist read my
writing. Fortunately, he didn’t recommend institutionalization.
SS: Just thanks for having me, and I hope you keep reading what I write!
WotV: Just try to stop me! No, really. Don’t. Okay?
Awesome Audiobook Website
