Preposterous, Ray Garton. That's nothing but Twaddle!

WELCOME

Are you ready for a bit of tedious twaddle?

 *All images are linked to their respective Amazon buy pages and should open in a new window*

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My guest today is the witty, yet opinionated writer/movie lover Ray Garton. He lives in Northern California with his wife Dawn and their 9 kits. Ray learned to write horror through the religion of his youth, sold his first novel in 1984, and since then has authored over fifty books under his own name as well as the names Joseph Locke and Arthur Darknell.  Four of his novels are in the process of being turned into movies.

Welcome, Ray.  Thank you for stepping up to be the first victim…er…guest on my “Blahg”.

First question:  Do I have the basics right? Or are all the links I found to do my research completely outdated?

Ray: The links are fine.  An official website is in the works.  I'll probably be the last writer in the world to finally get one.  I swear, I have no idea how anyone gets any work done with all the online promotion -- I just don't understand it.

I highly doubt you’ll be the last, maybe close, but not the last. *grin* As far as the promotion comment, lately I've been wondering that myself. Books, and promo and movies, oh my!

Hmm…movies…

Some of your stories are rumored to be in the process of becoming movies. Now, are these hush, hush secret movies? Or can your adoring fans get a little sumpin’ sumpin’ in the way of a teaser?

 Ray: Well, they aren't movies yet, and at least one of the four has completely stalled.  Producer-director Charlie Matthau (son of Walter) picked up Sex and Violence in Hollywood.  I read the script, which was written by a talented young writer named Ruben Sack, and I was blown away.  That's a pretty big book and I expected chunks of the story to be missing from the script, but Ruben got everything in there.  It was one of the best scripts I've ever read, and I'm not just saying that because it was adapted from my book.  It was tight, sexy, funny, suspenseful -- I was astonished.  Unfortunately, Charlie's producing partner -- the money guy -- was not as enthused about the story as Charlie was and didn't want to participate.  At the moment, it's stalled, but Charlie is still interested and I'm hoping it can be saved.  It would be a terrible shame not to use that wonderful script.

Ah yes, the wonderful funding snafu. I'm quite familiar with those. And, of course, if there are creative differences, money wins. *sigh* But what about the others?

Ray: Also in the works are Live Girls, Lot Lizards and my short story "Graven Image."  I'm not involved in any of them.  I would love to see all of them produced, but over the last 26 years, I've learned not to get my hopes up when it comes to movies.  So I'll be happy if just one of them makes it to the screen.

I know several other people who will be happy with that too—first in line to see it kind of people. And if said people start nudging me for info, I'm going to point them to your happy new website...when it's finished, that is. *wink*

I actually have a couple more serious questions. And no, I don’t expect brutal honesty. *grin* Feel free to tell me to stuff it if these make you uncomfortable. *gets on steel toed boots*

I’ve seen quite a few comments from people about wanting to give up writing because it’s a pointless profession. Some of the comments blamed piracy, over-saturation, etc. Personally, I write for the love of it, and being a baby in the industry, I’m not quite ready to just throw up my hands, so to speak. But I’m curious.

You’ve been writing a long time. Do you ever feel like you’re burning out, like you should just toss in the towel, or it no longer matters? AND… if/when you feel that way, what keeps you going? Fans, fortune (HAHA), or just the love of the game? Inquiring minds want to know (even if it is just my inquiring mind).

Ray: I feel that way often.  I really do.  Publishing is going through a very painful and chaotic transformation right now, and no one knows what it'll be when the transformation is over.  But I'm confident that there will always be people who read.  Maybe not as many as there used to be, and how they read something might change -- an ebook instead of a printed novel, for example -- but I don't think readers are going to disappear despite all the doomsaying.  I don't keep doing this for the money because that would be idiotic.  Very few writers get rich at it or are able to do it full-time.  But mostly, I keep at it because, to be honest, I can't do anything else.

I don't know about the "can't do anything else" part of it. I do know there are at least two little boys who will be reading for a long time. Long after I'm gone, I should hope, and they darn well better leave their own little ones the same legacy!

My second serious question has to do with perception. At the first real concert I attended, the lead singer said the one song they put out that they couldn’t stand became one of their most popular. Do you ever feel that way about any of your books? If so, why?

Ray:  I recently learned that In A Dark Place: The Story of A True Haunting, which I wrote back in 1992 about Snedeker family's claim that they lived in a former funeral home infested with butt-fucking demons (which later became the basis for the TV show and feature film The Haunting in Connecticut), is the most-requested out-of-print book about the paranormal in the country.  It will never be in print again because I won't allow it.  I wish it had never been published in the first place.  It was all a lie, a complete fraud, even though the book was published as non-fiction.  The movie was not based on a true story, it was based on the concoction of a family out to make a buck.  Their story has changed a good deal over the years, and now Carmen Reed (Snedeker) is writing a new book about her alleged experience, which will incorporate the many changes that have taken place in this ever-evolving "true" story.  I'm asked about that book a lot.  I don't mind because people say they really enjoyed it, that it genuinely frightened them.  And I'm glad.  But I'm quick to point out that it was not a true story.  I was told to use what I could of the Snedeker's weak, inconsistent story and to make the rest up, and that's what I did.  I tried to make it as entertaining and scary as I could, and if I succeeded, I'm happy.  But the whole thing disgusts me.

Embellished "non"-fiction. Yeah, that would do it.

But that’s old news, now. Let’s get back to the present.

Your latest release is Scissors, is that right? What inspiration brought this story to life?

Ray: I'm not sure if there was any one thing that inspired it.  Some books are sparked by a single thing, others grow more gradually.  This is one of the books that grew.  Unlike most of my horror fiction, it doesn't deal with the usual vampires or werewolves or ghosts.  The horrors are more internal, more intangible, and have to do with emotions and psychology rather than monsters and viscera -- although there's still plenty of visceral stuff in there.  Of my horror novels, this is my personal favorite.  It's certainly my most personal because it involves a lot of my own history -- an oppressive religious upbringing, physical abuse, a family that remembers things in their own particular ways.  Scissors is a horror story, but a couple of the things it deals with are the ways our memories effect our emotions and the way our emotions effect our memories, and how one's experience with one's own parents effects one's ability to be a parent.

*looks around warily* You just nailed my past in one sentence. I'm just not going to say which one. 

Can you tell us a little about Scissors?

Ray: As a boy, a very unpleasant medical procedure was performed on Stuart Mullond.  It was supposed to be done during surgery to repair a hernia, but his doctor, Dr. Ferguson, forgot, and instead does it in his office with no anesthesia.  During the procedure, Stuart's mother holds him down.  Now, decades later, Stuart is going through a difficult period in his life.  Suddenly, Dr. Ferguson begins showing up, and he always has his scissors.  He says he wants to perform that same procedure on Stuart's son.

For you fine folks out there who want to know a little more about this story, a quick google search for "Scissors by Ray Garton" will pull up reviews from various places. I know, I checked. (Also, as this information intrigued me, I went out and splurged on the book. Check back next Monday for my details!)

Now that we've addressed your current release, I have to ask… What are your plans for the future? Are there any new stories in the works?

Ray: I'm working on a few things, which is always a bad idea for me because I'm lousy at multitasking.  I'm finishing a novella -- or a long short story, one or the other -- called Threesome, which will be published by Sideshow Press.  I'm also working on Dismissed From the Front and Center, a novel I've been working on periodically for a few years now about my two years at a Seventh-day Adventist boarding academy (it's a comedy).  And I'm preparing to work on the follow-up to Bestial.

I'm personally really looking forward to Dismissed From the Front and Center. But then, that probably has a lot to do with my own background. Whatever my reasons, please keep me posted!

Besides all that, it appears there is yet another aspect to your busy schedule.

On top of the writing, and the promotion, you also now offer a critique service. How does one get in on that action?

Ray: All one needs to do is contact me.  I'm available to give a full manuscript critique, and I take novels, novellas, short stories, at whatever stage of the process the writer cares to involve me.  There's a description of what I'm offering here.

Anyone who's interested or has questions can contact me at raygarton@mail.com.

Did you get that, everyone? If you want someone who has experience in the industry to take a look at your work, read Ray's blog post on this service, then send him an email at the address above.

Are there any other big Ray Garton secrets you’re ready to let out of the box?

Ray: Well, if I told you, they wouldn't be secrets, would they?

Sure they would. *grin*

For those of you out there interested in learning more about Ray, here’s where he can be found:

Read his take on the world at his preposteroustwaddlecock blog.

Friend him on Facebook.

Follow him on Twitter.

Or hit him up on MySpace.

Thank you so much for joining me today, Ray. I hope to have other opportunities to pick your brain as the need arises. Keep me posted on the releases, I’m always happy to share!

Ray: Thanks for having me, Heather!  You have lovely nipples!

Thanks, I agree. *grin* And on that note, I open the comments to the masses.