Mell Corcoran is a groundbreaking mystery writer and creator of a series called Shadows. Her latest offering, Shadows of Doubt, is a mystery/thriller that challenges your every perception and shakes the marrow of your bones. With themes that could just as well be classified as paranormal mysteries, this book is sure to blow the minds of mystery readers of all genres.  A Southern California native, Mell has a professional background in law, a love of animals, and a deep sense of family. I caught up with her recently to find out a little more about the things that inspire her creativity.

http://www.mellcorcoran.com/

Can you tell us a little more about yourself? What were you like as a child?  What was it like growing up in Southern California?

Looking back, I was always an imaginative and creative little girl. I made jewelry out of copper wire, sticks and twigs became swords. I made clothes for all my dolls and each one had some long history that I concocted. Living in Southern California we have always been blessed with excellent weather so I spent endless hours outside playing, making mud pies or digging a hole to China or some other such silliness. My first friend, aside from my sister, was the little boy up the street so I could swing from playing mystical princess to Army Ranger seamlessly. My childhood was simple and happy.

Do you happen to remember what you very first favorite story was?

The first story that springs to mind is Charlotte’s Web. I received a copy as a gift when I was very young and to this day I still have the protective plastic wrap on it, I was so in awe of getting my very own hardcover book like the grown-ups had. That is probably where I got started refusing to squish spiders.

You have said your mother is your best friend. Do you consider yourself lucky to enjoy such a closeness?

I am more than lucky, I am truly blessed to have such an amazing relationship with my mother. I was not always an easy kid and I did my fair share of rebelling. Fortunately, my mother is an amazingly strong and supportive person and stuck to her guns with me. Ultimately, I snapped out of it and turned out OK. Looking back only makes me admire and value her friendship more.

Did she encourage your love of written word from early on?

Absolutely. Books were equally as important as any doll or toy when I was little. My mother has always been an avid reader so I probably mimicked her to a great extent in the early years. I remember the day she took me to the local library for the first time. I can even remember the smell this very moment. It was like walking into some sacred cathedral and she instilled it being a very special place right off the bat. I couldn’t wait to be old enough to get my own library card.

How do you think she has influenced you most over the course of your life?

My mother sacrificed a lot for my sister and I when we were young. She gave up a great deal and worked tirelessly to make sure we had everything we needed. Even when things were really bad, she protected us and made us feel safe. Looking back I can say that her grace and strength inspired me. Her sense of humor definitely rubbed off on me which many would probably argue, is not necessarily a good thing. We are a little warped.

Did you also have a love of animals from early on? Do you think people should be taught to respect all living things from an early age?

I’ve always been an animal lover. Animals and insects have always fascinated me and in retrospect, I think I always looked at most creatures as equals, rather than lesser beings. As I grew up, when I became aware of how some cultures view all life as sacred, it just made sense to me. Everyone has their own belief system, it’s all a matter of faith but to me, you never know. I might come back as that moth or beetle and I would want someone to save me, not squish me. I am constantly razzed for this particular quirk of mine. I have been known to stop traffic at a busy intersection to help a mouse cross the street. We all need a hand sometimes, creatures too!

I think our society is sorely lacking respect these days. Respect for our elders, for those that sacrifice so much so that we may enjoy our rights and freedoms. Animals, humans, all life is sacred and deserves the utmost respect. I am honestly not sure how we as a civilized society are going to get back to these basics with our youth. Kids are more and more desensitized to the value of life these days. It is something I think about a lot, actually.

Does your background in law help any in your writing work?

It absolutely helps with the research aspect. I want plausibility, regardless of how fantastical something may be. I dig for threads that are factually accurate so that hopefully my readers think twice rather than dismissing things as pure fiction. I truly believe researching the facts and building a solid foundation is critical in presenting one’s case in law as well as one’s story.

What led you to be a writer instead?

I’ve written things forever. Poems, songs, short stories. Writing has always been a constant in my life, even though it was for personal pleasure rather than a career. Once upon a time I believed in our legal system with a fierce passion. Some of the most beautiful writing can be found in this Nation’s founding documents. Sadly, as in nearly every profession these days, the spirit of the law has sagged and taken a back seat to winning at all costs. Dollar figures dictate more than principal and I didn’t want to grow bitter with my work so I slowly walked away. I am truly much happier for it and think I am a nicer person than I used to be. But that is a matter of opinion. You’d have to ask my family for confirmation on that one.

Why did you choose to write mysteries?

I think loving mysteries is genetic in my family. My mother, my uncles and aunts, we all are huge mystery lovers. I remember my first Nancy Drew novel and talking with my mother about “who dunnit” so writing mysteries just was the natural course for me.

Why do you the world has always enjoyed a good mystery?

I think it’s the solving of the puzzle combined with the primal desire for good to triumph over evil. Everyone can connect with those basic elements in one way or another. Reading mysteries gives the reader a way to connect with a hero on a uniquely personal level, live the challenge in one’s mind without the risk. Honestly, who hasn’t dreamed of being the detective or the superhero and saving the day?

How did the story for Shadows of Doubt come to be?

Writing a novel has always been on my “bucket list”. At the end of 2010 my family had a crisis that made me take a long look at my life and re-prioritize. Writing the book rose to the top of things I wanted to get done and by April 2011 the first draft was finished.

The original idea for the book was nothing like the final product. I did have the opening line of the prologue whispering in my head for a couple years before I finally sat down to write. Other than that, most everything in Shadows of Doubt is entirely different than what I planned. When I began writing, the story became organic, it took on a life of it’s own.

Were the supernatural elements in this story intentional?

I think so. I know that is a strange answer but let me qualify myself.

While I am a huge fan of paranormal fiction, I really wanted to write something that felt real, that everyone could connect to on some level and at some point think “Hmm, that might be possible, it could happen.” Take the Incredible Hulk for example. Stan Lee took something that might happen and pushed it to an incredible and unlikely scenario with the radiation exposure and such. Scientifically we know that certain exposures can cause anomalies. What if? And why do they always have to be negative? I have never bought into the classic Bram Stoker version of vampires and frankly, the whole no reflection, no sunlight, undead blood thirsty monster stereotype always seemed silly to me. No self respecting adult buys into that, right? That’s pure fiction. But, what if?  What if there was a reasonable explanation for a condition that was not so impossible? Genetic mutations are fact, not fiction. So, who knows, right?

What are your feelings on such things?

I am a simple mortal human who, in the grand scheme of things, knows exactly nothing. Once upon a time civilization thought the world was flat, right? Now we see pictures taken from outer space. I believe anything and everything is possible. Until I personally experience hard cold fact proof that something is not true, I always leave the door open for possibilities.

Are there any little known things about yourself that you’d not mind sharing with our readers?

That’s a tough question. I am sure there are a ton of little things, most of which probably shouldn’t be shared with the public at large. Maybe the fact that I am a sucker for corny jokes? My favorite of all time is: What did the snail say while riding on the turtle’s back?

“Weeeeeeeeee!“

Get it? He was going so fast riding the turtle? I love that joke. It always makes me smile.

Is there one subject you’d most like to cover in your work that you have yet to?

I don’t know yet. (smiles) I’ve learned not to plan what I write so it’s hard to say where the story will take me until the fonts appear. I suppose I have a tendency to touch upon the human conflicts we all face once or twice in our lives. Love, loss, loyalty, the internal struggle between what we want to do and what we need to do. Other then that, it’s hard to predict where my mind will wander. We will have to wait and find out.

As a woman what advice would you leave the women of tomorrow?

Be patient. Men can’t help the way they are. I’m kidding, sort of. Seriously though, my advice would be to never let the fact that you are a woman ever be an issue. Honestly, the only time I think about it is when I am deciding what to wear. Poor boys, they are so limited.

What would you say you consider to be the most important thing a person can take out of this thing called life?

Appreciation. Really knowing and valuing all the good stuff a person has had in their life is really all we get to take with us when we go. Truly loving, laughing, being in each moment as best as you can before you simply can’t any longer is what I feel is truly important in life. Don’t get me wrong, there will always be stress and garbage to deal with but that is not the stuff you need to hang on to. Those things are negative space. I prefer to focus on the positive spaces that make me smile instead.

Why do you think the world has always been so fascinated by death?

I think it’s the classic fear of the unknown. Perhaps with a sprinkling of the taboo. For instance, when we are very young and we see that flame in the fire for the first time, our parents yell “Hot! Don’t touch!” What child do you know never tests that and get’s burned once or twice? For whatever reason, we don’t know what death really holds. It is the one true absolute mystery in life that I don’t know will ever be solved. We as human beings are inherently curious creatures so it’s only natural that in some way or another we are fascinated by death. Although in some cases I’m not sure about the word “fascinated” but to wonder is only natural.

What projects are you currently working on?

Right now I am finishing up the next book in the series of Shadows. It’s about 99% done but I need to let the ending reveal itself. After that, book 3 will start popping up in my little brain and I’ll get to work on that one.

Anything else you’d like add?

I don’t think so! I hope this interview gives my readers an opportunity to get to know me a little better but I’m not sure that’s a good thing either! (grins) I thank you for the opportunity and your thoughtful questions. It has been a true pleasure.

Half a Lotus

This girl is a godless godhead. She lives in India and follows a trail that her words make. She spreads a gospel that no one understands, yet lingers over. If they disagree, she stretches the smirk of the all-knowing and continues preaching. Her language is old and reeks of the Bhagavad-Gita. She can quote an ancient legend that is untraceable. She wanders over a land that encompasses nothing of a past she embodies like a country.

She could steal 100 wallets and three leather jackets from a leather shop in less time than it took to sew up a loose button or say nine times “a stitch in time saves nine.” She used to cart off an espresso machine and a juicer from a kitchen shop faster than it took a shop owner to look right through her.

An Ayurvedic astrologer told her that she was a child of India. Is a girl born in Indiana a mistake of just two letters on a Scrabble board?

She did not own businesses that went bankrupt. She did save an old woman from the blackness of memory and loneliness. She did not take out loans from banks and shaft every partner she ever worked with. A lien may have been put on her property when she departed. That is the karma of those left behind. She moves forward and there is not a wisp of her when she looks back.

She can do half a lotus and cry for hours through a night that whispers of capitalism and exile. Her eyes are swollen and red. They speak of days, months of silent sobbing, but she tells the families she lives with that she has been up all night meditating. She can walk to the market and back without shoes.

She grew up playing football. She wore torn up sneakers and told people to “Fuck off.” She was born on land that corn was familiar with. She did every drug she could get her hands on. This was the godless godhead. A place where no bad thoughts troubled to grow. It was a voidless history of mushrooms, LSD and getting laid.

She gave up bad haircuts and sweatpants for saris. She steals a trinket now and again to keep in practice. She can hold someone’s attention for more than two hours before they start yawning. She is getting a visa to stay in India for years. It is a place where she is who she is. There are no expectations of a white face with blackened feet.

She used to hear the word “crazy” and laughed. The world of Prozac was mocking her? She detects far deeper voices rasping from the mouths of infants in India. She only has to listen to them calling to know which dirt she stands on.

For most of her life she was married to hatred. She had boils lanced off of her back. She smacked a man in the face more than once for saying something intolerable.  Now, she lets the boils come and go. When she fights with a family, she just moves on. This is a land of empty bowls and open doors.

People speak of family in India and ask her about her family. She tells them her mother died and she has a daughter. She held her mother’s dead body. She bathed her mother in tap water in Indiana and dressed her in lavender and chartreuse.

In India she walked around for a week covered in her mother’s ashes and then bathed in the Ganges like the holy ones.

Every night when she rocks and cries she sees her daughter in someone else’s arms and a land of opportunity that betrayed her. She is business savvy and spends hours each day with a storekeeper telling him how to bring in more money to his shop or café. She talks him into hiring her for only a meal or two each day. Her needs are few now. He believes he can’t live without her, until one day he discovers he can’t live with her.

She storms out of each town with dirty feet, a necklace or some silk fabric stuffed down the front of her sari and a mantra of peace and prosperity on her lips. There are other towns and other words to fill up those vast cavities of loss.

For more information and another example of Meg’s work please see: The Total Eclipse of a Life Too Toxic to Look Directly Into

Illustration by Eric Gross

Barbie Wilde is beloved by the horror world for her role as a female cenobite in Clive Barker’s Hellraiser II. She also appeared in Death Wish III (Charles Bonson)and Grizzly II: The Predator (George Clooney, Charlie Sheen, and Laura Dern). Barbie has also contributed short stories to several anthologies. Her newest offering as an author is the dark crime fiction novel The Venus Complex.

As someone who was a shy and nervous kid, what advice would you offer to others inclined to that?

In my own case, I probably overcompensated a bit by becoming an actress, which doesn’t work for everyone — for obvious reasons! Also, I tried to confront my fears head on, like going skydiving twice — in the hope of overcoming my fear of heights and flying. It didn’t work, but at least I can say that I went skydiving.

I think the most important thing is to face your fears and realize that not everyone is out to get you, or that not everyone hates you, etc. (I am a bit paranoid, so it’s important for me to come to terms with these realizations.)

As an early reader do you remember what your very first favorite story was?

I can’t remember the very first story, but it probably had a horse in it somewhere. (I remember being totally traumatized by Black Beauty.) I do remember reading all the Sherlock Holmes stories at a very young age. I also read virtually all of Edgar Rice Burroughs books: John Carter of Mars, Pellucidar, Carson of Venus and Tarzan. Wonderfully imaginative stuff. However, my mother was a bit perturbed when I discussed what a bordello was with her when I was nine years old! ERB was a bit racy for his time…

How do you think you have changed most as an individual since your earliest days?

I’m more confident in myself and my abilities. I’m also not nervous about meeting new people, as I have to do it at conventions all the time.

Do you have any interesting stories from the set that you might share with our readers?

Image Animation has put up some old “behind the scenes” video footage on Youtube of Simon Bamford doing the Can-Can in his Butterball costume and me singing Mein Herr from Cabaret in full Cenobite makeup, while Nicko (Chatterer) Vince laughs up a storm and Doug Bradley is wearing a very fetching leotard. We had to amuse ourselves somehow, I guess!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOL9tVSQWUY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC9eMyayZfQ

Is there any one role you enjoyed more than others? Why do you think that is?

I really enjoyed hosting TV programs, interviewing music and film stars and reviewing movies. Being myself on TV basically. I never was that comfortable being an actress. I was always so worried about remembering my lines. In many ways, that’s why I became a mime artist.

However, portraying the Female Cenobite was such an iconic role that I’ll always cherish the opportunity to play her.

Was it fun getting to play a cenobite?

I think the true fun of being a cenobite is meeting the fans 25 years later, who still appreciate and respect a small cult British horror film after all this time.

When you’re actually on set, your mind is taken up with the lengthy makeup and costume process, learning lines, hitting your mark, not bumping into the furniture, etc. As well as making sure the props don’t bump into you! I remember one scene where we were all surrounded by heavy swinging anchor chains. Doug was hit by one, which knocked off one of his pins. Luckily it was knocked off, not in. Nicko was later hooked in the mouth by a chain with a hook on the end of it.

Why do you think the Hellraiser series has become so iconic? Did you ever imagine when you first got the part that it would become as popular as it has?

Hellraiser was created by one of the most imaginative and unique horror and fantasy authors of our time, Clive Barker. It’s not that surprising that his imagery and innovation has stood the test of time. Also, there is a lot of passion (misplaced, in Julia’s case) in the first two Hellraiser films.

What led you to first try your hand at writing?

I’ve been writing for decades. I’ve always written stories and I kept a journal when I was young. In the 80′s, I was even writing sitcoms with a friend. (There were never produced, sadly.)

Do you have a dream project so to speak? Any subject you’d love to write about before you go?

 I’m co-writing a musical drama about love, violence and revenge, set in the ruins of post-War Marseille that I’d love to see get off the ground, either on stage or screen. I’d also like to see one of my horror or crime stories made into a movie…

How did it feel to release your first dark crime novel? What do you love most about the characters contained in its pages?

It’s an amazing feeling, holding that paperback for the first time, after waiting for a while to see it come to fruition. I’ve been gobsmacked by the positive response to The Venus Complex, so it was worth the wait to finally see it published. A big thanks to Comet Press for taking the plunge on a novel that has a lot of controversy surrounding it in terms of subject matter.

I love my characters for their honesty and their determination.

Cover of “The Venus Complex” by Daniele Serra

Why do you think the world has always been so fascinated with serial killers and the like?

Serial killers are the lone wolves of society, picking off the unwary, having no empathy, seeming to be uncatchable in many cases. We are all fascinated by the dark side. You only have to look at how popular Darth Vader was in Star Wars, Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, and every single Bond villain. We love them, even while they plot to kill us. I couldn’t begin to explain the whys and wherefores of that attraction!

What projects are you working on now?

My latest short horror story, A is for Alpdrück, is featured in the Demonologia Biblica Anthology, edited by Dean M Drinkel. It’s now out on all the Amazons. I’ve just finished another story called Zulu Zombies for an anthology called The Bestiarum Vocabulum (also edited by Dean) for Western Legends Press. And I’ve got a short crime story called Beauty and the Skell out in the autumn in The Screaming Book of Crime (Screaming Dreams). I’m also working with Eric Gross to create a Pandoric dedicated to Sister Cilice, the character I created for my short story of the same name that was featured in the Hellbound Hearts Anthology. You can find out more here:

http://followers-of-the-pandorics.com/the-toy-makers/philippe-august-rene-lemarchand/the-cilicium-pandoric/

And I regularly update my website, so check there for the latest news, reviews and interviews: www.barbiewilde.com

If you had that chance to choose your famous last words what do you think you’d like them to be?

 I’ll have to quote Woody Allen on this one: “I’m not scared of dying. I just don’t want to be there when it happens…”

Photo by David Preutz

Cover for Elizabeth Massie’s “Afraid

Cortney Skinner has worked with clients such as Penguin Group Publishing, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Harley Davidson, Wizards of the Coast, Lucasfilm, Hallmark and others. His work covers countless subjects and is impossible to classify into any one genre. Inspired by artists and painters from numerous genres, eras and disciplines, Cortney offers up work with a flair uniquely his own.

What was it like growing up in Cambridge, Massachusetts? What are your fondest memories from that time?

My family was of very modest means but we happened to live in a very diverse neighborhood, as well as being surrounded by a culturally rich oasis of bookstores, art and natural history museums, as well as fascinating architecture and history from four centuries…. all within easy walking distance. I think that this variety in my environment fueled my imagination, my wide assortment of interests and inspired my art.

My fondest memory of my young days in Cambridge is hanging with my old pal, Geary Gravel (author of The Alchemists, A Key for the Nonesuch, and others). We were about twelve when we first met and we’d get together after school to throw Frisbees or create and draw all sorts of adventures… science fiction, fantasy, super hero comics, and our own monster magazines. Pure fun and limitless creativity!

Cover for Elizabeth Massie’s “Homegrown”

Do you happen to remember what specifically it was that first started your interest in art?

I don’t think that there was one specific influence. My father supported mom and us five kids through his small, two-man advertising company in Boston but his own artistic experience was only a subtle presence in the home. However, my parents filled our living room shelves with all sorts of illustrated books… encyclopedias, art books, history books, storybooks, all of which I’d pore over constantly. There were framed art prints on the walls as well. Between that and my environs, there was no shortage of artistic visual stimulation.

Choosing a Mistress

Did you draw much as a child? What is the first thing you can recall drawing most often?

Some of my earliest memories are of drawing… It began at least as early as age two. I remember that my oldest sister taught me to draw Donald Duck when I was in kindergarten, and my little sketches attracted the attention of my kindergarten teacher who took me around to other classes to show me and my drawings off to the other students. That may have been my first good reviews.

Cover for Elizabeth Massie’s “Naked On The Edge”

What do you think is the very first step in becoming an artist? What is the first thing you should try to learn on that journey?

That’s a complex question which has no one correct answer. It all depends on the direction(s) a person wishes to take his/her art. A career? A hobby? A business?… Representational? Abstract? Traditional? Digital? There are so many pathways one can pursue.

Perhaps most importantly, a person who wants to engage the arts must look within to find what drives them, what inspires them and to discover what aspects and how much of their “regular” life they are willing to sacrifice in pursuit of their art. It’s a commitment that can be quite deep and transcendent, or merely a business pursuit or just a diversion.

Personally speaking, there was no “first thing” to be learned on my own weird journey as an artist. Drawing is, of course, a very important skill and an ongoing, developing discipline. Aside from acquiring some competence in drawing, painting and sculpture, a person who is serious about working in any of the visual arts should be educating themselves in all aspects of human culture…literature, history, art, music, philosophy… as well as the sciences. One must be a compassionate, sympathetic and keen observer.

Here’s just one small example of that idea… it’s wonderful to be able to observe how light diffuses, reflects and transmits off and through the translucent skin of the model sitting in front of you, but also knowing something of the anatomy, physiology, philosophy and even the culture of that person sitting on the other side of your easel will help to complement your art and keep your tools of observation keen.

One benefit of my father’s job was that he’d bring home printer’s proofs of the advertisements he designed in the form of stacks of paper, printed only on one side, so between that paper supply and my crayons and pencils, I had a fully-stocked art studio. My parents  also bought me the “Jon Gnagy Learn to Draw” kit. I watched Gnagy’s TV show as well as the local Boston kid’s show host Captain Bob Cottle, who had a drawing instruction segment on his show. Those shows had some terrific instruction for the beginning artist.

You have worked in comics, books, and film. Is there one area you love to work in more than others?

 Each type of work offers something very unique and attractive. My solo work gives me most control over my efforts, but I also enjoy the collaborative aspects of illustrating an author’s manuscript as well as the highly collaborative and cooperative characteristics of film work. It’s exhilarating and inspiring to work with other creative folks. I’ve had such a great time working with my old friend, the director Larry Blamire (The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra) in all of his films, including doing nine creepy portrait paintings for his “old dark house” film, Dark and Stormy Night.

Poe Forevermore Magazine Cover

Who are some of your favorite living artists?

For this answer, I’m not mentioning illustrators, since there are too many wonderful ones from so many eras to mention without wrongly ignoring others. Also, I work in many different styles so there’d be dozens of artists in each style that would be my favorites. But to limit this answer to only painting… here’s a short list that I’m guessing won’t be too familiar to many folks who read this interview. If you Google any of these artists, you’ll be rewarded by their gorgeous work. Joseph Michael Todorovitch, Paul W. McCormack, Ellen Cooper, Scott Burdick, Takahiro Hara, Jeremy Lipking. There are so many others.

Is there one subject you enjoy painting more than others?

I enjoy painting people the most, both in my illustrations and in my own work. It’s a very personal, highly sensuous process. Since painting people demands the most concentration, energy and skill, I’ll sometimes enjoy the more relaxing subjects of landscapes and still lifes

H.P Lovecraft

Are there any little known things about yourself you’d not mind sharing?

Since I’m little known to begin with, I suppose that anything about me is little known. Here’s a little-known tidbit of no consequence…I’m one degree of separation from Teddy Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, and Amelia Earhart.

The concept of “degrees of separation” is the theory that everyone on earth can be connected by six or fewer people to any other person in the world.

It was popularized by the film and play by John Guare, Six Degrees of Separation, but was much earlier proposed in 1929 by Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy in “Chains,” or “Chain-Links.” He suggested that, despite great distances between Earth’s individuals, the growing connection of human social networks would link all of us in ever-closely-connected chains with, at the most, five links or acquaintances between any of us. Even as early as 1929, he said:

“A fascinating game grew out of this discussion. One of us suggested performing the following experiment to prove that the population of the Earth is closer together now than they have ever been before. We should select any person from the 1.5 billion inhabitants of the Earth – anyone, anywhere at all. He bet us that, using no more than five individuals, one of whom is a personal acquaintance, he could contact the selected individual using nothing except the network of personal acquaintances.”

My “one degree of separation” from Teddy Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, and Amelia Earhart was all through my meeting Eleanor Roosevelt when I was a little boy. She was acquainted with all three of those folks.

Apart from the purely entertaining aspect of these connections, I think that that the far more important notion is the fact that all of us here on Earth are far more closely connected than we may know or even want to know. So we damn well better get it together and figure out how to get along and help each other.

What was the best advice anyone ever gave you? Who was it?

Oh, if only I had heeded all the good advice I’ve been given over the decades… One piece of artistic advice that stands out, and that I still employ was given to me by one of Norman Rockwell’s students, of which there were very few. Don Spaulding is an amazing painter of the American West and when visiting his studio in New York, I was bold enough to show him some of my paintings. He advised me to soften the edges of some of the elements in my paintings. A deceivingly simple recommendation, but important for my own work.

Cover for “Appalachian Undead” the Anthology

You also work with Elizabeth Massie from time to time. Do you enjoy getting to collaborate with her?

Very much! It’s a thrill to capture the mood and spirit of her wonderful prose in a painting. Her writing takes my work in directions that I’d otherwise never travel. Our approaches to life and basic philosophies are similar, so that makes the collaborations that much more harmonious and rewarding.

What do you love most about living in Virginia?

The Virginia landscape is very artistically inspiring. Having been raised in the city, it’s wonderful to now see the night sky as well as a landscape with a horizon and mountains. I don’t miss the New England winters, but we still get all the weather variations of the four seasons here… which is a good thing for my landscape painting.

“Big Book of Kolchak The Night Stalker” from Moonstone Books

Are there any of your works that hold more meaning to you than the others?

Each work elicits a recollection of what my life was like at the time the art was done. Every piece can be a memory trigger… of the people I painted, the places I’ve lived, the state of my life at the time. So, in that way, some works may be more redolent of meaning than others. Now and then, something unusual will stand out and have much more weight and meaning for me… like the posthumous portrait I painted of a friend of mine, author Les Daniels.

Les Daniels

Is there one subject you’d most like to cover that you have yet to?

I want to do more paintings of people. These would not be “portraits” per se, since they aren’t necessarily meant to please the subject or be commissioned by a client. Hopefully, I can balance my commercial workload with some time to paint these pieces which will be informal paintings of friends.

Sinas Cavinder from “Dark and Stormy Night”

What projects are you currently working on?

I have 15 book covers to do for a reprinting of the Oz books, a couple privately commissioned paintings, an alternate-history zeppelin painting, some bookplates and books to design… an illustration for a Steven King book, and some other interesting projects.

Anything you’d like to say before you go?

I’ve babbled on enough, I think… From here, I’d like my artwork to speak for me… so if folks would like to take a look at some of my stuff, they can check out my website at:

http://www.cortneyskinner.com

Thanks much Tina! I always enjoy reading your interviews!

“Outmatched”

“Redneck Zombies”

All art is © the various publishers and Cortney Skinner

Her Yellow Eyes and His Scarlet Tie

He looked at himself in the mirror. He was pleased to see that the daily stress, so potent and so exhaustingly constant, hadn’t yet sapped his supposed “boyish good looks.” He was so used to hearing that, he never realized how much he had tried to emulate that description. He tried to be lively in debates, to crack jokes, to seem relatable, fun, cool…Some say that’s why he was able to poll so well with the younger demographic.

Cold statistics.  Merciless demographics. His only companions for years.

Today, when he looked in the mirror, he did not see boyishness. In every line around his eyes, in every gray hair, he saw his life fading away. He saw death. He saw destruction. There was no joy. No youth. No depth in his eyes. They were glassy—hollow, and they held nothing in them but silent obedience. He turned away, he couldn’t stand to look at himself any more.

He couldn’t help but think that his boyishness, and so much else that he once had was gone, dead, destroyed forever.

No. Not all of me. Not yet. He thought as he sifted through tie after tie, none of them quite right for the activity that lied ahead. So much of me has been grinded to dust. Slowly crushed beneath the heavy steps of my handlers, my keepers. I don’t know what I am, but I know what I’m not. I’m barely human anymore. After everything that’s been taken from me, I can’t let them take the last semblance of me away. I have to do hold onto what’s left of me before it’s too late.

Strangely enough, he couldn’t help but think that he didn’t actually know what he was so desperate to hold on to. What it was exactly, he couldn’t determine. It was intangible. All that he knew was that he was seeking it tonight—and that the consequences would be dire if he was discovered before it was over.

But that was part of the fun. Despite himself he was giggling out of nervousness; out of pure excitement bordering on exultation, splashing cold water on his face, gazing at his warped reflection in the porcelain, trying to cool himself down, so that he would seem calm as he strolled casually towards the oval office. He was so used to being watched and analyzed, to being picked apart so painstakingly that by the end of the day he was thoroughly minced, that he knew one false step and everything would be gone.

And he would be too.

The notion of nothingness, of pure oblivion did not excite him as much as it would others in his predicament. Because he knew where emptiness was, so much could get in. And those around him were all too eager to fill that space with their poison.

So he straightened his scarlet tie and slicked back his graying hair, and felt the weight of his arms nonchalantly swing as he walked by all the secret service, the aids, and perhaps most difficultly, his wife. It’s not that he didn’t care for her. If there was anyone he could care about anymore, it was her. But he wasn’t sure if he could anymore.

She knows. He thought as he gave her a quick, noncommittal wave and she eyed him with concern. She knows what they’ve been doing. She feels bad for me. But she never stopped them. She let them have me. She defended them. Even though she knew, she knew…In the end, she was just like everyone else. They were all parasites, and he could never satisfy their hunger.

He forced himself to block the image of his children out of his mind, their reverent eyes so full of light every time he came into the room. He couldn’t bear that light. He couldn’t bear their love. It was too strong, it was too perfect—it made what he was about to do so impossible. He had to block it out. He had to let it go. It was so strong, it was a part of him—so he had remove it. It wasn’t as hard as it should’ve been. He was used to picking himself apart at this point, hiding things he loved so even he couldn’t destroy them.

After all, his children didn’t know him. Not really. They didn’t love him—just the idea of him. What were they really, but living reminders of everything that he had lost?

He refused to think about whether or not he loved them, or anything anymore. It didn’t matter, because he felt as though he didn’t deserve to love anyone.

And with that last thought, his vision became tunneled. There was only the path ahead of him. Only one thing was on his mind now. And it excited him in a way that he hadn’t felt since he was seventeen, locked in the bathroom with the girl he had been in love with since the second grade.

The president couldn’t believe what he was about to do. True, he had done worse in his presidency, much worse. He had ordered the deaths of many. How many, directly or indirectly, he would never know. And he had done it in blind faith. He didn’t hesitate, didn’t stop to think, to cool down, to consider his options. For the greater good he was told. But death causes nothing to become greater, and even less to be good. This he had come to realize. But by then, it was too late.

Realizations can’t bring back the dead.

The thought just made him want to see her more.

He turned to his aids and security, and said, “I am not to be disturbed for the next hour.” And before they were able to question him, he closed the door to the oval office, locking it behind him. He could feel his heart knocking against his chest as if to escape from his body, as if to demand freedom from what was about to take place. But he demanded it to be silent, and, frightened, it complied.

Once it was quiet, she appeared.

It was as if nighttime had come within a blink of an eye, and she was born out of the shadows. As she came into the light, her raven hair and yellow eyes stared at him with supreme amusement. He felt his knees weaken, and this feeling of sweet, unabashed longing course through him, flames tickling the place right underneath his skin.

She watched steadily as he approached her, his arms open and eager.

He had met her a week ago that night, in the bathroom at a fundraiser. It was that time again—despite it only happening once every four years, he felt as if his whole life consisted of it. It was that time when he busily pimped himself out for money in support of a cause that he knew was corrupt and would result in nothing but pain. He was the cause. He would bring the pain. And it was all met with grand applause.

And with each clap, with each cheer that followed each sentence of his speech, each change in intonation, each carefully planned off the cuff joke, he felt like someone was taking a hammer to his head, chipping it away, until he was sure that bits and pieces of him were lying on the floor, crumpled and pitiful. By the time the first part of his speech was done, it was all he could do to make it off stage. People gasped when he staggered off, suddenly ill. His aid addressed the crowd, saying he had the flu. They brought someone else on to speak. He was always replaceable. They told him that. That’s why he continued to do what he did, despite the fact that it was slowly robbing him of his humanity.

If it’s me at least, I have some control, I can do something…slow them up…

He knew he was lying to himself. Perhaps what sickened him most was how much he enjoyed the power. The status, the fame. That’s how they knew they had him. He couldn’t help himself. He was pathetic. Disgusting. Shameful.

He made it to the bathroom and hunched over the sink, desperately searching his pockets. His hand, quaveringly cupping a few pills that were supposed to keep these kinds of thoughts away, was just about to be raised to his mouth before he felt a tiny cold hand stop him. She was there, next to him, staring at him with imploring eyes. She was impossibly beautiful. He couldn’t look at her enough. How no one had heard her come in was amazing. Perhaps she was always there, but it wasn’t until that moment that he was truly able to see her, to acknowledge her. The fact that he had someone that no one else knew about, for the first time in what felt like an eternity brought him great joy.

Without words, they both knew why she was there, and what was going to happen. What had to happen. He knew he had seen her before, in his dreams. She was dangerous to have so near, but she was also beautiful and she made it clear that she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.

And now she was there, in front of him, in all of her glory. So, so close. Portraits of the other Presidents watched as he staggered closer to her.

“Take me!” He begged, in a voice that seemed to come from outside his body rather than within.

“Do you want to be punished?” She asked. Her voice, on the other hand, seemed to be emanating from inside his own head, echoing in the cracks.

“Yes!” He cried. “I want to be punished.”

He watched as her form, so stunning, so perfect, suddenly melted and became a liquid blur. Then her face was close to his, so close that if you were watching, you would think that they were about to kiss. But her lips weren’t the thing that was coming ever closer.

Her tiny pale hands were around his scarlet tie, edging the knot closer and closer to his neck, cutting off the air to his brain, until he could almost feel salvation.

This is what I’ve wanted for so long. He thought as tears streamed down his face. Let me have this now, while I’m still me. She pushed the knot back even tighter.

His salvation was approaching him, opening up through the yellow eyes and sallow face of the girl was that taking him there. As the world melted away, his last thoughts were of no one but the girl. As to whom she was, he couldn’t quite place it. It infuriated him because he was so infatuated with her. How could he have forgotten someone like her? It was as if she was always there though, somewhere in his head…His mind seemed to go in circles, desperately trying to grasp a memory that linked her to him. She was so precious to him, he couldn’t believe he had forgotten…

At last, he remembered where he first saw her. Or at least, where he first put a face to her.

He was on one of his ridiculously scheduled “spontaneous” outings at a local restaurant. But before he was seated, there was a loud, hysterical shout in his direction, and then something was something chucked at his head. He ducked and it just missed his head, but before he had a chance to understand who or what it came from, he could feel a swarm of black barricade him in, forcing him to crouch on the ground as orders were shouted out around him. Then there was nothing but him and her, lying on the floor.  t was a magazine that was thrown at him, and she was on the cover.

He couldn’t see anything but her face, staring back at him on the magazine. No, not some sort of rag whose covers were littered with airbrushed women simpering and pouting, but of a magazine of importance, of relevance. Time, he realized. Relief swept over him. And she was on the cover, lying on the ground, beautiful and tragic, her eyes open though they did not see the camera flash, and around her, pieces of shrapnel, and streaks of violent scarlet, and a headline directly addressing him…

But none of that mattered anymore, he realized. She would take him far, far away from that image, and from the headlines that screamed at him to stop—to change, to cease and desist. Most importantly to him, she would take him from the people who were busily using him, destroying him, and slowly constructing him into a hollow, remorseless puppet.

With what he hoped would be the last smile on his lips, he realized that they hadn’t fully succeeded, not just yet. If this did not happen, if she did not get him out in time, he knew what it would mean.

He never wanted it to be this way. They told him that he would be doing good! So much good…he’d be making a difference. He’d be helping people. Bringing them together—protecting them! He should have never believed them. He should have known what he really was, what they really were, what this whole thing was really about. Now, as he was so close to what he wanted, he saw it all so clearly, what he was trying to hide from himself. That in the end, the guilt truly laid with him.

Although he could not see his hands, he could feel the scarlet blood dripping off of them.

When he looked in the mirror, he didn’t see himself anymore. Only in the reflection of her yellow eyes, did he see himself as he truly was in life.

Murderer.

He looked at her face. She was calm, composed, merciful. He almost wished she would be angrier at him, that she would hate him the way he hated himself. But slowly, those thoughts floated away. Everything was floating away. He knew his time had almost come. He could feel hot tears streaking down his face, that hopefully dripped and diluted the blood at his feet.

Just before it was in his grasp, just before his heart finally set him free, he heard a bang—the door was being broken down, and then a terrible scream.

“The president is trying to hang himself!”

Foreign hands began to snap at and then finally grip his waist, fanatically dragging him back to earth. He could see his salvation, so close, disintegrate before him as a flash of red drifted away, floating through the air, guided by a calloused, fat hand…

Before unconsciousness overtook him, through watering, blinking eyes, he saw that the woman had vanished. She had melted back into the shadows, and he knew that would never see her again. She tried to save him and this was his only chance. And now, nobody could. He was completely within their power now.

With that thought, he saw that part of him that he had so desperately tried to keep within him, slowly disintegrate away. Soon, he knew, he would never be able to dilute the blood with tears, soon, he wouldn’t even be able to cry at all.

And then he was gone.

Mia Bencivenga is currently a student at the University of Pittsburgh where she is majoring in Linguistics, working on a certificate in the Arabic Language, and is minoring in Religious Studies.

Photo by Nathan Fillion

Tim Minear is a screenwriter/director who started out as a production assistant on the movie Platoon. Over the years he has written episodes for such iconic television series as X-Files and Lois and Clark. He also wrote, executive produced, and directed episodes for Angel, Strangeworld, Firefly, Wonderfalls, and The Inside. Tim has worked tirelessly to entertain the masses with his delightfully dark style of writing. Most recently he brought the world the critically acclaimed television series American Horror Story.

Can you tell us a little about your background? Where are you from and how did your earliest days influence who you are today?

I was born in New York City, but grew up in Whittier, California. I was one of those kids who made movies with his friends. As I look back now I realize most of our super 8 films were really episodes of TV. Star Trek films, The Six Million Dollar Man, stuff like that. Maybe I was a TV writer/producer from the start.

Did you love horror and science fiction tales as a child?

Loved. Read hard SF as well as comics. And was going to SF conventions by the time I was 12.

Did you have any favorite monsters growing up?

Had a special love for the old Universal monsters — the classics, Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman.

Who do you consider to be the best in those fields today?

As far film and TV — I’d have to say Joss, of course and J.J. Abrams. His Star Trek re-boot almost makes me forget the original, which is a kind of miracle.

What first led you to become involved in the entertainment industry?

As I mentioned, from the time I could pick up a movie camera I never seriously considered doing anything else.

When you were working in craft services did you ever think your career would have taken you as far as it has?

I assumed I’d be further. I thought I would be directing big feature films. TV wasn’t really a thought then. Then I discovered that if you are a writer/producer in television you have the optimal creative control.

Your work has a rather dark element to it, why do you think that is?

Well, you could argue that nearly everything I’ve done has a big element of comedy. Angel, Lois and Clark, Terriers, certainly Wonderfalls — all of these hour “dramas” might have more humor and a more room for different kinds of humor than your average hour television drama. But I’m attracted to the darker stuff for sure. In my case, it may be less about darkness and more about BIG. I like the BIG emotion, the epic story, the melodrama. That might just translate into darkness in some elements of storytelling.

What was it like to work as production assistant on Platoon? How did you get the job? What did you learn from that experience?

I was working with the Los Angeles co-ordinator. So I met the cast and also Oliver Stone and Bob Richardson when I get them to the airport to go on location. So I learned how to navigate the San Fernando Valley. That was about it.

What was it like to produce Angel?

Just awesome. Working with Joss has been a constant hi-light — but Angel will always have a special place for me. It was the first place I was really allowed to have to have the ball and run the court.

Photo by Nathan Fillion

What is your opinion on vampires? Do you feel the recent vampire tales have made them less appealing due to over popularity and overdone romantic plots?

For me, vampire stories are great for the, as I say, BIG and the EPIC. It’s a wonderful vehicle to do things that are heightened. I have no opinion about the recent vamp crazes. I haven’t kept up to be honest.

You also worked on Alien Nation. What are you personal feelings on extraterrestrial beings?

First off, my version of Alien Nation died on the vine. I have no personal feelings about ETs, as I tend to not believe in them. But it’s fun to think about that stuff. Like telling a scary story around a camp fire.

Of all the series you have worked on, which did you enjoy the most? Why?

You can’t make me choose. I’d have to say Angel/Firefly and Terriers. For the same reasons — the quality of the shows, the stories we got the tell and the people I got to work with.

Any interesting stories you could share with our readers from your work over the years?

When I was just starting out I jumped Alec Baldwin at UCLA once after he did a talk. I put a script in his hand. He was very gracious  about it. I mean, I literally ran at him with the thing.

I got it back in the mail with a note from his manager saying Mr. Baldwin was a bad boy to accept it. Huh. Not that great a story, huh?

How do you think the entertainment industry has changed most since you first began your career?

Reality TV. But that came in not long after I did. I mean, I didn’t exactly start in the silent era.

What advice would you give others wishing to follow in your steps?

I would advise them to get out of my steps. Those are my steps. Why are they in my step?  Actually, if you want to write and produce TV, you need to have a great sample script. If you want to be a writer — then write!

What do you consider to be the defining moment of your career?

I’ll let you know when I get there.

What are some of your hobbies?

I read a lot.

Any little know things about yourself that your fans might be surprised to learn?

Nothing that wouldn’t frighten them beyond the telling of it.

What projects are you currently working on?

I’ve been helping out over at Terra Nova for a few weeks. But it’s not officially “my” show — so if it gets canceled, I don’t want to see any of the usual finger pointing!

Anything you would like to say in closing?

I’ve already said too much.

(Editors note: This interview appears in The Damned Book of Interviews as well and is used with permission from Tim, simply because I do think he belongs at Van Gogh’s Ear)

Crispin Hellion Glover is a man of many talents. He has worked as an actor, screenwriter, director, author, publisher, and recording artist. His best known roles such as George McFly in Back to the Future, the Thin Man in both Charlie’s Angels flicks, Willard Stiles in the remake of Willard, Grendel in Beowulf, The Knave of Hearts in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, and Phil in Hot Tub Time Machine make him one of the most recognizable faces in film.

His own company Volcanic Eruptions publishes his lavishly illustrated books and delightfully twisted films. Currently he is set to tour in select cities( Paducah, KY, Duluth, MN, Minneapolis, MN, New York City, Kansas City, MO, and Littleton, CO. For exact dates and more information please see: http://www.crispinglover.com/slideshow.htm) to promote Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Slide Show with showings of his films It is fine.EVERYTHING IS FINE! & What is it?

Can you tell us a little about yourself? What were you like as a kid? How do you think you early years influenced you to be who you are now?

I went to a small private school called Mirman School for Gifted Children. It was an excellent school that was academically oriented. The school was an influence to let me understand that questioning things was very good.

What first led you try your hand at acting and when did you know if was what you had to pursue as a career? Do you think your parents being actors themselves was a positive influence on you to follow your dreams?

I was in school plays and such, but having watched my father’s career I understood, to a certain extent, how the business worked. I decided it would be something I could do at around age 11. I got an agent at age 13. My parents did not push me into the business. It was something I decided to do by my own volition, but my parents were supportive.

Do people find it hard to believe that Hellion in your middle name? It is a very cool name to carry, are you glad to have it?

My father Bruce Glover is an actor as I’ve said. In fact he is in Part two of the trilogy It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE! People may know him from such films as Diamonds are Forever, Chinatown and the original Walking Tall series. His middle name is Herbert. He never liked his middle name Herbert. So as a young struggling actor in New York he would say to himself “I am Bruce H. Glover, Bruce Hellion Glover. I am a hellion, a troublemaker.” And that would make him feel good. He told my mother this was his real middle name. When they were married she saw him writing on the marriage certificate Bruce Herbert Glover and she thought “Who am I marrying?” They gave Hellion to me as my real middle name. I had always written and drawn as a child and I would always sign my drawing and writing with my whole name Crispin Hellion Glover. When I started acting professionally at 13 which was something I had decided on my own I could do as a profession at a relatively young age it became apparent that I had to choose a professional acting name for SAG. I thought my whole name was too long for acting and just used my first and last name. When I started publishing my books I simply continued using the name I had always used for writing and drawing. This is also why I use my whole name for my films.

You have played rather strange characters throughout your career. Why do you think that is? Which characters have you enjoyed most and why? Which do people seem to recognize you for most?

I was drawn to unusual characters from at least when I was first professionally studying acting at age 15. But probably younger than that as well. When people approach me it is usually because they recognize me from a number of films.

I don’t know that I have a favorite character, but I feel like the films that I that I quite like as a whole that I have been in are River’s Edge, Orkly Kid and What is it? Other characters I like I have played that I like are Cousin Dell in Wild at Heart, The Thin Man in Charlie’s Angels, Willard in Willard, Bartleby in Bartleby, Grendel in Beowulf. I had a great time working in Alice in Wonderland with Tim Burton and everyone involved.

Did you enjoy your role in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter? Have you always been a fan of horror? Why do you think people are drawn to such things?

I am glad that I was in the film. I knew while filming it that some day there would be something humorous about appearing in that film. I am not really that much of a follower of horror. That being said there are certain films considered to be in the horror genre that a truly great films. I think people can be drawn to horror for the concept that it let’s one feel they have survived something brought to them from the darker side of life. That can be invigorating.

Was it fun to play Willard? What is your opinion of rodents and such?

I very much enjoyed playing Willard. I am proud of the emotional work that I concentrated on very hard while making that film. The rodents that I worked with were exceedingly well trained and never made a mistake on a single take, which was great because a lot of the scenes I had with them were emotional scenes that would have been hard to get to again if cuts had to be made because of the rats. But they were truly perfected every time and ultimately great acting partners.

What was it like to work on a Tim Burton film? What did you learn from the experience?

I loved working with Tim Burton and everyone involved. It is apparent that Tim Burton has been in situations where his art was being questioned and he knows that he does not want to do that to people he is working with, but wants them to be able to explore for themselves what is happening for their work. That makes people feel good about what they are doing. It is a good thing to know when working as a filmmaker.

You have also delved in music. Do you think that is something you might return to at some point?

I have a second album that has been nearly finished for more than 10 years and has been put aside while my feature films have taken precedent. I will get back to that project hopefully soon.

Are there any little known facts about you that people might be surprised to learn?

My interests artistically may be called eccentric and there is a truth in that, but I am also a very centric business person.

Can you tell us about the upcoming tour? What can fans expect from the show? What led you to form Volcanic Eruptions? The first two films you directed feature people with Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy. Why did you decide to do that?

I would like people to think for their selves. Steven C. Stewart wrote and is the main actor in part two of the trilogy titled It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE. I put Steve in to the cast of What is it? because he had written this screenplay which I read in 1987. When I turned What is it? from a short film in to a feature I realized there were certain thematic elements in the film that related to what Steven C. Stewart’s screenplay dealt with. Steve had been locked in a nursing home for about ten years when his mother died. He had been born with a severe case of cerebral palsy and he was very difficult to understand. People that were caring for him in the nursing home would derisively call him an “M.R.” short for “Mental Retard”. This is not a nice thing to say to anyone, but Steve was of normal intelligence.

When he did get out he wrote his screenplay. Although it is written in the genre of a murder detective thriller truths of his own existence come through much more clearly than if he had written it as a standard autobiography. As I have stated, I put Steven C. Stewart in to What is it? When I turned What is it? into a feature film. Originally What is it? was going to be a short film to promote the concept to corporate film funding entities that working with a cast wherein most characters are played by actors with Down’s Syndrome. Steve had written his screenplay in in the late 1970’s. I read it in 1987 and as soon as I had read it I knew I had to produce the film. Steven C. Stewart died within a month after we finished shooting the film. Cerebral palsy is not generative but Steve was 62 when we shot the film. One of Steve’s lungs had collapsed because he had started choking on his own saliva and he got pneumonia.

I specifically started funding my own films with the money I make from the films I act in when Steven C. Stewart’s lung collapsed in the year 2000 this was around the same time that the first Charlie’s Angels film was coming to me. I realized with the money I made from that film I could put straight in to the Steven C. Stewart film. That is exactly what happened. I finished acting in Charlie’s Angels and then went to Salt Lake City where Steven C. Stewart lived. I met with Steve and David Brothers with whom I co-directed the film. I went back to LA and acted in an lower budget film for about five weeks and David Brothers started building the sets. Then I went straight back to Salt Lake and we completed shooting the film within about six months in three separate smaller productions. Then Steve died within a month after we finished shooting. I am relieved to have gotten this film finally completed because ever since I read the screenplay in 1987 I knew I had to produce the film and also produce it correctly. I would not have felt right about myself if I had not gotten Steve’s film made, I would have felt that I had done something wrong and that I had actually done a bad thing if I had not gotten it made. So I am greatly relieved to have completed it especially since I am very pleased with how well the film has turned out.

We shot It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE. while I was still completing What is it? And this is partly why What is it? took a long time to complete. I am very proud of the film as I am of What is it? I feel It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE. will probably be the best film I will have anything to do with in my entire career. People who are interested in when I will be back should join up on the e mail list at CrispinGlover.com as they will be emailed with information as to where I will be where with whatever film I tour with. It is by far the best way to know how to see the films.

After Charlie’s Angels came out it did very well financially and was good for my acting career. I started getting better roles that also paid better and I could continue using that money to finance my films that I am so truly passionate about. I have been able to divorce myself from the content of the films that I act in and look at acting as a craft that I am helping other filmmakers to accomplish what it is that they want to do. Usually filmmakers have hired me because there is something they have felt would be interesting to accomplish with using me in their film and usually I can try to do something interesting as an actor. If for some reason the director is not truly interested in doing something that I personally find interesting with the character then I can console myself that with the money I am making to be in their production I can help to fund my own films that I am so truly passionate about. Usually though I feel as though I am able to get something across as an actor that I feel good about. It has worked out well!

The live aspect of the shows are not to be underestimated. This is a large part of how I bring audiences in to the theater and a majority of how I recoup is by what is charged for the live show and what I make from selling the books after the shows. For Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Slide Show I perform a one hour dramatic narration of eight different books I have made over the years. The books are taken from old books from the 1800’s that have been changed in to different books from what they originally were. They are heavily illustrated with original drawings and reworked images and photographs.

I started making my books in 1983 for my own enjoyment without the concept of publishing them. I had always written and drawn and the books came as an accidental outgrowth of that. I was in an acting class in 1982 and down the block was an art gallery that had a book store upstairs. In the book store there was a book for sale that was an old binding taken from the 1800’s and someone had put their art work inside the binding. I thought this was a good idea and set out to do the same thing. I worked a lot with India ink at the time and was using the India ink on the original pages to make various art. I had always liked words in art and left some of the words on one of the pages. I did this again a few pages later and then when I turned the pages I noticed that a story started to naturally form and so I continued with this. When I was finished with the book I was pleased with the results and kept making more of them. I made most of the books in the 80’s and very early 90’s. Some of the books utilize text from the biding it was taken from and some of them are basically completely original text. Sometimes I would find images that I was inspired to create stories for or sometimes it was the binding or sometimes it was portions of the texts that were interesting.

Altogether, I made about twenty of them. When I was editing my first feature film What is it? There was a reminiscent quality to the way I worked with the books because as I was expanding the film in to a feature from what was originally going to be a short, I was taking film material that I had shot for a different purpose originally and re-purposed it for a different idea and I was writing and shooting and ultimately editing at the same time. Somehow I was comfortable with this because of similar experiences with making my books.

When I first started publishing the books in 1988 people said I should have book readings. But the book are so heavily illustrated and they way the illustrations are used within the books they help to tell the story so the only way for the books to make sense was to have visual representations of the images. This is why I knew a slide show was necessary. It took a while but in 1992 I started performing what I used to call Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Side Show. People get confused as to what that is so now I always let it be known that it is a one hour dramatic narration of eight different profusely illustrated books that I have made over the years. The illustrations from the books are projected behind me as I perform the show. There is a second slide show now that has 7 books and it performed if I have a show with Part 1 of the IT trilogy and then on the subsequent night I will perform the second slide show and Part 2 of the IT trilogy.

The fact that I tour with the film helps the distribution element. I consider what I am doing to be following in the steps of vaudeville performers. Vaudeville was the main form of entertainment for most of the history of the US. It has only relatively recently stopped being the main source of entertainment, but that does not mean this live element mixed with other media is no longer viable. In fact it is apparent that it is sorely missed.

I definitely have been aware of the element of utilizing the fact that I am known from work in the corporate media I have done in the last 25 years or so. This is something I rely on for when I go on tour with my films. It lets me go to various places and have the local media cover the fact that I will be performing a one hour live dramatic narration of eight different books which are profusely illustrated and projected as I go through them, then show the film either What is it? Being 72 minutes or It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE being 74 minutes. Then having a Q and A and then a book signing. As I funded the films I knew that this is how I would recoup my investment even if it a slow process.

Volcanic Eruptions was a business I started in Los Angeles in 1988 as Crispin Hellion Glover doing business as Volcanic Eruptions. It was a name to use for my book publishing company. About a year later I had a record/CD come out with a corporation called Restless Records. About when I had sold the same amount of books as CD/records had sold it was very clear to me that because I had published my own books that I had a far greater profit margin. It made me very suspicious of working with corporations as a business model. Financing/Producing my own films is based on the basic business model of my own publishing company. There are benefits and drawbacks about self distributing my own films. In this economy it seems like a touring with the live show and showing the films with a book signing is a very good basic safety net for recouping the monies I have invested in the films. There are other beneficial aspects of touring with the shows other than monetary elements.

There are benefits that I am in control of the distribution and personally supervise the monetary intake of the films that I am touring with. I also control piracy in this way because digital copy of this film is stolen material and highly prosecutable. It is enjoyable to travel and visit places, meet people, perform the shows and have interaction with the audiences and discussions about the films afterwards. The forum after the show is also not to under-estimated as a very important part of the show for for the audience. This also makes me much more personally grateful to the individuals who come to my shows as there is no corporate intermediary. The drawbacks are that a significant amount of time and energy to promote and travel and perform the shows. Also the amount of people seeing the films is much smaller than if I were to distribute the films in a more traditional sense.

The way I distribute my films is certainly not traditional in the contemporary sense of film distribution but perhaps is very traditional when looking further back at vaudeville era film distribution. If there are any filmmakers that are able to utilize aspects of what I am doing then that is good. It has taken many years to organically develop what I am doing now as far as my distribution goes.

From “It is Fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE.”

Do you think society in general underestimates the so-called disabled? Do you think there is any such thing as a truly disabled person?

There certainly can be underestimations of people who are called disabled. A truly disabled person is someone who thinks of themselves as disabled.

When is the last film in the trilogy expected to be done?

I should not go in to detail for IT IS MINE. yet and I will not shoot that next. There are other projects outside of the trilogy that I will shoot next. The Czech Republic is another culture and another language and I need to build up to complex productions like What is it? and the existing sequel It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE. IT IS MINE. Is an even more complex project than those two films were so it will be a while yet for that production. I will step outside of the trilogy for a number of films that deal with different thematic elements. I am in the process of building sets for a screenplay I have been developing for a long time for myself and my father to act in together. He is also an actor and that will be the next film I make as a director/producer. This will be the first role I write for myself to act in that will be written as an acting role as opposed to a role that was written for the character I play to merely serve the structure. But even still on some level I am writing the screenplay to be something that I can afford to make. There is another project that I may make before that I am currently working on the screenplay that may be even more affordable. yet still cinematically pleasing.

Do you enjoy working behind the camera as much as you do in front of it? How do the two differ most?

Yes I probably enjoy working behind the camera more than in front of the camera, but that has more to do with the content in corporately funded and distributed cinema that I can find somewhat stifling. Because I fund my own films I can get in to territory that corporately funded and distributed film can not.

What was the craziest thing you have ever done?

Drive a car in traffic.

And Flight will be Normal as Walking

the blood that shoots forth
shower of angels in a blast of gold
opening the seal of sobriety

a bottle of black stallions
ink jet gods whistling soul music
the numb struts fall apart

laughter jets from the careful chamber
where teas are a solemn symphony
the rites of spring impaled on hot steel
boundaries snagged in balloon of sky

the spirit is a spiral beast
magnified the eyes of the ordained
kole smudges, dress of vapors
armada of burning souls

chanting for more
than stacks of biblical death

dressed for desire not your
mystery funeral of the flesh

outside in the ruins
angels assemble
their permanent wings

and flight will be normal as walking.

Alex S. Johnson resides in Northern California, where he teaches college composition. His books include The Death Jazz, Black Tongues of the Illuminati, Doctor Flesh, and The Doom Hippies. He also publishes and edits The Shwibly magazine.

A beautiful disease. Left here to abandon. Dumb, deaf and blind. The only thing is beauty. The beauty of the sun, the stars and the pale gloom of the moon. The damned walk with us only because we are us. Happiness is an entity long out lived. A mystical creature that rarely shows its face. Put here to torment. Put here to smile with false comings. Never the less, we are born to believe. Born to pursue. Set up for failure with our first breath. Only to open our eyes to deceit. Death will follow. But like everything, it can only be longed for when you need it the most.

Life isn’t about being happy. There is an important lesson that only the so called “happy” ones have paved. Life is about being proud of what you have accomplished through you own blood, sweat and tears. Life is no fairy tale. If you let it, it will take hold and watch you sink to the very depths of your own apathy.

Charlie Matthau began his career in 1973, appearing alongside his father Walter Matthau in such films as Charley Varrick, The Bad News Bears, and House Calls. Charlie made his directorial debut in the film Doin Time on Planet Earth. He also directed The Grass Harp,  Her Minor Thing, Baby-O, and most recently Freaky Deaky, as well as several network movies of the week. A man of multiple talents, over the course his career he has worked as an actor, director, producer, and writer. He currently runs The Matthau Company ( http://matthau.com/ ).

What were you like as a child? Did you always have a love for things…creative?

I always loved storytelling.

What was it like growing up Matthau so to speak?

I was very lucky because I had very loving parents. they were a little older when they had me, and thus more mature.

What was your father like as an individual?

The best dad you can imagine. My best friend. We did everything together!

What was the best advice he ever gave you? What would you say is the most important thing you learned from him?

So many things! probably not to take yourself that seriously.

Did you enjoy being a child actor? What was it like to work with your father at that time?

I never really liked acting. I’m too shy. My father made it fun though. he always said “acting is about listening.”

What made you decide to try your hand at directing?

My father made a film in the early 70′s with a director named Don Seigal. He was a lovely man and liked kids. I followed him around all summer and wanted to be just like him. Then I started playing around with a super 8 movie camera.

As someone who has worked as an actor, producer, director, and writer is there one you prefer over the others?

Directing, then writing, then producing.

How do you think the industry has changed most since you became part of it?

The studios make less films and the marketing budgets have soured so that less interesting films are being made. In the 1970′s films were more director driven. Now they are 200 million dollar comic books with merchandizing and sequels, and geared towards 13 year olds. I like those films also, but there used to be more variety.

Do you have any interesting stories over the course of your career that you’d not mind sharing with our readers?

I’ve a  lot but I’d need a topic.

Are there any little know facts about yourself that the world might be surprised to learn?

 I was a duck in a past life.

On the set of “Freaky Deaky”

Are you still on the board of sponsors for the Action on Smoking and Health? Why do you think it is so important to sponsor such causes?

Because smoking kills one in three smokers. We need a national tobacco tax with the money going to cancer research.

 What projects are you currently working on?

The Sugar Shack, which is a very silly but fun comedy that is basically “anchorman” set in a male strip club. Also an amazing, original, charming coming of age story called Huge which is Little Miss Sunshine meets My Girl. It’s based on a book by James Feurst. We also have several tv series that we are developing including Mexican High based on the book by Lisa Monroy.

How do you hope to be remembered when your time comes?

By being remembered.

Is there anything you’d like to say in closing?

It has been an honor being interviewed by you and I also appreciate anyone who has taken the time to read it.

Earth Day

I face the line on Earth Day,

my forty-seventh birthday,

and mourn for the athlete’s body, the dancer,

the woman who could hop from rock to rock

without losing her balance;

who once thought about becoming a figure model

for a group of Impressionists looking for curves,

long lines, shiny hair, and smooth skin;

who ran in the sun, the rain, and the wind,

in the Truffle Trot and the Butte to Butte;

who never stopped to consider

how it would have to end

when she was forced to look for gentler ways:

Reuse the Past, Recycle the Present, Save the Future.

Now this line irritates her like a sliver.

She limps along next to it, fretting

over how some throw in the towel

when they reach the other side.

A mysterious landslide

just comes tumbling down

and smothers the green shoots that once bloomed each year.

She wonders if the earth will crack open right here,

releasing hot friction between two giant plates

like the sore places in her ankles.

That’s when she decides to stand on the line.

Step on a crack. Break your mother’s back.

She paws at it forcefully.

She flashes her red cape,

listening closely as the crowd cheers—

as the moment balances in the air.

Inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale…inhale…

She exhales right over it,

trying to learn how far she can walk in a day,

singing again after all these years.

Previously published in The Ballad of the New Carissa and Other Poems.

Kari Wergeland is the author of Voice Break, as well as The Ballad of the New Carissa and Other Poems. In addition, she wrote a children’s book review column for The Seattle Times, which ran monthly for 11 years. Wergeland recently earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific University. She works as a librarian for Cuyamaca College in El Cajon, CA, and lives part-time on the Oregon Coast. For more information, please refer to her website: kariwergeland.wordpress.com.

” ARS MAGNA”
Oil and gold leaf / table
184 x 122 cm.
2010

“Nigredo”
Oil and gold leaf / table
62.5 x 48 cm.
2010

“ACU PICTA”
Oil and gold leaf / table
Polyptych 6 pieces: 150 x 120 cm.
2004

“PANGE LINGUA”
Óleo / tabla
53 x 40 cm.
2004

” Arbor Vitae”
Oil / board
Triptych: 160 x 126 cm
1994

“Necessitas”
Oil, gold leaf and silver / table
130 x 100 cm.
2009

“PASSIO”
Egg tempera and oil / wood
72 x 58 cm.
1993

“SOLVE ET COAGULA”
Temple de huevo y óleo / lienzo / tabla
165 x 122 cm.
1992

For more information on Dino Valls please see: http://www.dinovalls.com/

Commemoration

I. CHRISTMAS PAGEANT

At twelve, I played Mary

in a community Christmas pageant.

I saw you at the service, people said.

I saw you with your baby,

riding your donkey. A real donkey,

led by some boy. Older boy.

Fourteen at least. I don’t remember

his name or if I even knew it

at the time. Just that I couldn’t look at him.

Couldn’t look straight at him without

blushing and lowering my eyes.

Everyone said I made a great Mary.

That I did a great job being

the one God descended upon. No,

not descended upon. Entered.

That I did a great job being the one

God entered. And who

afterwards called it holy.

II .CHRISTMAS PAGEANT REVISITED

The boy is important, the visiting poet said.

Immensely important. The center of the poem,

he said. Her desire for him is the center of the poem,

the dramatic center. Her desire for him is

what this poem is about. This much is clear: She desires him.

The girl riding a donkey desires him,

the boy, the dramatic center. You need to build him up more,

he continued. Give him a name, good looks, maybe a touch of acne.

Help us to see him, to see the real center of this poem.

To see into the center; to see inside her

desire. Help us to get inside –

inside the blushing and the lowering.

Tell us how blue his eyes are, how dark his hair,

how straight and perfect his

nose. We need to see him. The center of her desire.

Unless, of course, you are striving

(striving!) to create an aura of mystery – an illusion of mystery –

like you would if you were talking about, say, God.

Unless, of course, you want the boy to be mysterious

in the same way a deity is. Maybe even the girl.

He said this last part parenthetically. (Really, he did.)

Unless of course….

Unless of course you, you, just don’t get it.

That there is nothing mysterious here. Nothing of the

element of religious deity in the story of

a god who descended upon, entered, a woman, a girl,

and with this, the world. Entered and created a world filled

with immensely important boys

who would grow up to be immensely important men,

who would grow up to be the dramatic center of every girl’s life,

grow up to be the desire of every girl who would become every woman,

who would become, be becoming to, every man,

who would become, yes, become, come, come not out of choice,

not out of desire, but fear. Fear and trembling.

Unless, of course, you call that love.

 (This poem first appeared in the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, p. 121, V. 26, N. 1, Spring, 2010.)

Lisa Dordal holds a Master of Divinity and a Master of Fine Arts in poetry, both from Vanderbilt University, and currently teaches part-time in the English Department at Vanderbilt. Dordal’s poetry has appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies, and her chapbook, Commemoration, is currently available from Finishing Line Press. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her partner, Laurie. For more information, please visit her website at http://lisadordal.com.

Vulture like Blackbirds

You know that you have become an integral middle of concealed yet sacred geometry when, rather than explaining by address or driving directions, you begin to tell your friends to just move toward the endless blackbirds circling above your cave. The birds are there day in and day out, gyrating, ascertaining uncertain floods in your pelvic floor, so why not invite your friends in by way of that fact? Blackbirds can whirl like vultures, obsessively enfolding a spot below them, keeping that spot forever in their stare. There are organic forms of portals and channels and those forms of organic are dark.

Because it is possible to bow to places that have not yet been reached, the work is to sense many different pressures as pleasurable. In my cave, where neural ducts spread like bramble, I engaged in a regular practice of making diodes and doilies. I worked to turn any first sun into subliminal (not secondary) strength. The dark birds remained above me like clockwork. Was I their most chthonic temptation? A cock-bearing clock tower, frothing as it turns its back on time?

J.J Hastain is the author of several cross-genre books including the trans-genre book Libertine Monk (Scrambler Press), Anti-memoir a Vigorous (Black Coffee Press/ Eight Ball Press) and The Xyr Trilogy: a Metaphysical Romance. J.J’s writing has most recently appeared in Caketrain, Trickhouse, The Collagist, Housefire, Bombay Gin, Aufgabe and Tarpaulin Sky. J.J has been a guest lecturer at Naropa University, University of Colorado and University of Denver.

“DRAMATIS PERSONAE”
Egg tempera, oil and gold leaf / wood
170 x 122 cm.
1996

What was it like growing up in Spain? When did you first begin to notice your love of drawing? Do you happen to remember what you used to draw most often back then?

 My youth passed in an interesting period of the history of Spain, with a strong boost in a feeling of freedom, very stimulating for creativity, although in arts, the dominant informalism wasn’t the best climate to develop my personal interests in painting.

I always liked to draw, maybe because my father also liked it. Pencil, color pens, ink, watercolor, charcoal, pastels… different techniques to draw anything, sometimes copying plates of old painters, or inventions.

What was your earliest influence?

 I started to visit exhibitions and museums in my city, to see art books… I had no direct teacher to learn, so my reference has been the whole History of Art, extracting what is the common essence of the artistic expression all along the history of mankind. And regarding the conceptual content of my work, the depth psychology, and the Jungian analytical psychology.

What led you to first try your hand with oils?

 There was a certain prevention to my start with oils, my father knew my passion for drawing, but he feared that a premature beginning into oil painting, a technique more difficult, could produce discouragement and distancing from my hobby, so he advised me to wait until I improved my drawing skills. But my learning and development were fast and surprisingly easy to me. Even so, I did painted a lot, getting more and more ability. I have to recognize that I had a strong liking for painting but never thought to professionally be an artist, in fact I started my studies of Medicine the same year that I started to paint with oils.

“DIES IRAE”
Oil / wood
Polyptych 7 pieces: 74 x 100 cm.
2012

What did you find most challenging when you first started learning to  work with those?

 To learn to work in sessions, to be patient, and always thinking that what you are painting is the previous layer to the following other(s).

What advice would you offer others who wish to learn on their own?

It’s very hard, you need a lot of self-discipline, and to be very critical. And be convinced that anyone is “self-taught”, it’s absolutely necessary to learn how other masters did, and in this way until the moment in which you feel you have a complete control of the technique, so that allows you to adapt or modify your knowledge to your own way of working, or develop new ones. The only advantage that I see is avoiding the strong and persuasive influence of one only teacher, in a moment in which oneself still hasn’t formed your own artistic personality.

You also have a degree in Medicine and Surgery. Does that training and the knowledge of anatomy in particular come in handy in your painting work?

 Of course the knowledge of the deep structure of the human body is very useful for my painting, but I think that there are other elements in the studies of Medicine more important for my work, especially in the creative or conceptual contents.

“TENEBRAE LESSONS”
Oil / wood
78 x 94 cm.
1993

What did people around you think of your decision to be an artist as opposed to the medical field?

 During my career, I also painted a lot, and started to show my works in some collective exhibitions, receiving a very good response, wining some awards, and called by galleries of Madrid to prepare individual exhibitions. Even so, I wished to finish my studies and only after getting my licentiate degree, I decided to work only as a painter and not as a doctor. My family and friends trusted in me and supported my decision, helped by these first successes and knowing my sensible character and prudent determination, although always thinking that Medicine did lose a dedicated surgeon…

What do you love most about painting?

It’s a pleasant way to go deeply into the dark basements of the mind, to explore the collective unconscious. It’s a lonely mystic work of self-knowledge.

Some of your works seem to feature the same model. Why do you enjoy working with that particular subject?

The characters that I paint are imagined and idealized persons which embody some archetypes of the unconscious. All of them have a similitude because they are invented and follow that ideal expression and features. I never use real models. My ability to achieve an adequate verisimilitude, of course has been increasing during the years of work, but my early decision not to use real models, not for persons nor settings, allowed me to create more easily imaginary worlds, and project more directly an inner deep content. Which is much more difficult if you have to look for and find real models and settings.

“DE PROFUNDIS”
Oil / canvas
92 x 73 cm.
1989

Why did you decide to work with tempera? How does it differ most from the work you had done previously?

In the early nineties, I studied the ancient techniques of oil glazes on tempera, and then started to use them because of the fast drying of the first layers, its brightness, and the inimitable colors that this technique achieves when you work after with the glazes of oil. Progressively, I’ve developed my personal way, by adapting this one to my preferences, seldom using the laborious preparation of the egg or casein tempera base.

What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

 I don’t believe in these moments. You are always working, even when you aren’t in front of a painting. I love music -but I always paint listening to it-, When I’m not painting I read and study…

Any little known things about yourself you’d not mind sharing with our readers?

I already do: look at my paintings.

“THE CREATION OF TZADE (צ) THE CREATION OF AYIN (ע)”
Egg tempera and oil / wood
Dyptych: (2x) 140 x 49 cm.
1992

Do you have a dream project you’d most like to see completed?

To live many other lives to develop many other forms of art I’d like to make. As this isn’t a project, I hope to see one day all my works together in an exhibition.

Anything you’d like to say before you go?

Gaze at my paintings with your nape, with the eyes closed…

“COLLECTIO”
Oil / wood
35 x 35 cm.
2011

For more information on Dino Valls please see: http://www.dinovalls.com/  You can also see our piece with more examples of his work at: http://theoriginalvangoghsearanthology.com/2013/05/19/the-art-of-dino-valls/

Apocalypso

I wasn’t born with issues. I acquired them the way fish acquired limbs in order to walk on land. You didn’t know me back then. There were many laws, but few arrests. The news always seemed to be showing funerals. Blue was a different color. Prospective employers shook their heads when I told them I was self-taught. The motions of time got harder and harder to understand, like babushkas who drank a fifth a day. Perhaps I didn’t need friends. Perhaps what I needed were accomplices. A man I had just met offered me an unsolicited piece of advice: “Go fuck yourself.” I hurried off as if eager to try.

Howie Good, a journalism professor at SUNY New Paltz, is the author of the forthcoming poetry collection  The Middle of Nowhere (Olivia Eden Publishing) and the forthcoming poetry chapbooks The Complete Absence of Twilight (Mad Hat Press), Echo’s Bones and Danger Falling Debris (Red Bird Chapbooks), and An Armed Man Lurks in Ambush (unbound CONTENT).

David Bollt was a child prodigy who began producing art at the tender age of seven. By his teens he was creating art for various rock bands worldwide. Following countless magazine covers and posters Bollt developed a loyal fan base that has been expanding ever since. His work in the field of Tattooing has also solidified his reputation as a master of the trade. David has been appearing in books and magazines leading a conversation about beauty, art, creativity and consciousness. Now, he is passionately advocating a positive message that aims to change the way the world relates to human beauty. With a clear vision of appreciation, he is helping transform how people see themselves and each other. His recent project Model Society features some of the world’s most talented models, photographers, and artists. The elegantly sensual site celebrates the beauty of the human form in all its forms Be sure to check out Model Society at: http://www.modelsociety.com And visit his personal website at: http://www.davidbollt.com

What were you like as a child? What first led you to want to be an artist?

I was mostly serene and quiet. I liked to have time to sit and be with my imagination. At night though, this was often scary for me as I had a tendency to imagine ghosts and monsters. I remember the day I decided I would be an artist. I was probably five or six and was playing a with a kid in the neighborhood who wanted to draw. It was the first time I ever sat to do that and it changed my life. Landscapes full of monsters and adventures opened up for me. With nothing more than a pencil and a piece of paper, suddenly anything was possible. I realized that all the dark creatures of my imagination were of my own creation, or at least I had some sense of control over them. From that day on I knew I would spend my life as an artist. From that day on I was dedicated to exploring imagination through art.

You were designing covers for rock bands by your teens, did you always have a love for the genre? What did it feel like to see your work featured on merchandise from some of the most prolific musicians of our time?

I love it! I’m a musician myself and I always related to creatives of all types. Music and visual art go together beautifully. As a teenager I remember listening to music while looking at an album cover. The experience of the songs along with the artworks seemed like one thing. It was like the art would invite me deeper into the music. It has always been a thrill for me to create artwork for bands. It did not matter if they were starting out or well established, either way I just enjoyed the process.

Are there any of those works that stand out most in your mind?

I’ll never forget going to a Queensryche concert and taking a friend back stage to meet with the band. I had been working with the drummer (Scott Rockenfield) for months creating a line of custom drum graphics. When the band came on stage, I got such a thrill seeing Scott rocking on a set of drums with my artwork. I turned around and saw en entire stadium of people moved by the music. The entire line of drum graphics went on tour with more bands than I even know about. It feels good realizing that the images have been part of such a powerful and diverse musical experience for so many people.

Why do you think music and art have always been so…well suited to one another?

Because they both are purely creative expressions. One is a journey of hearing, the other is a journey of seeing. They both can tap into emotions and imagination. They both can inspire us and fill us with a sense of wonder.

You also took an interest in the world of tattoos. What do think people find so appealing about wearing art on one’s skin? Do you have any yourself?

We are mortal creatures. Our lives are temporary. People often think of tattoos as permanent, but they are not… they only last as long as we do. I think of tattoos as a way to celebrate this mortal journey with images that have meaning for us. They become a part of us, a part of our life story that we can carry with us until the end. No matter what happens they will always be with us until we die. In a world where there are few things we can count on, I think people like to have something they can depend on. I have some tattoos that mean a lot to me. I feel like I have earned them.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Michalangelo, HR Giger, Simon Bisley, P. Craig Russel, Becksinski and Mucha are the first that come to mind, but there are dozens, even hundreds who have inspired me and who have helped me shape my own artistic vision.

Is there any one subject you love to work with most in your work?

I love exploring the human figure. I think of our humanity as a miracle. I’m amazed every day that this amazing organic creation is the home of my thoughts, feelings and ideas. I think of the human body as the source of all beauty, because it is the home of our consciousness. It is our conciseness that brings beauty into the world by seeing things as beautiful. I am endlessly fascinated by this. In particular, the female form is deeply inspiring to me. I find it so incredibly elegant and graceful. As a man, I think of my natural reaction to this beauty as the force that brings new life and new awareness into the universe. It’s a spiritual practice for me to celebrate this in my art.

Can you tell us a little about Model Society? Do you think the human body as a work of art in and of itself has been somewhat diminished by modern societies ideal of what beauty…is?

Model Society is a social network for the very best models, photographers and artists in the world who create images of models as true works of art. I created Model Society with the desire to restore human beauty to it’s rightful place as a subject of fine art contemplation. I don’t like that beauty is used to manipulate us and that nudity is associated with porn. There is nothing more beautiful and natural than our naked humanity. I want to give people a place to celebrate and enjoy what we are, presented as fine art. Every individual has their own concept of beauty. I want people to feel free to love what they love, and be attracted to whatever they are naturally attracted to. If people could free themselves of shame, they would see far more beauty in themselves and each other. If we learned to simply love what we love, and enjoy what we enjoy, then it would not matter what culture or society has to say about it. AND, I think it’s likely that culture and society would have a far more inclusive expression of beauty if people made choices for themselves as to what they find beautiful.

How do you think the art world’s view of the human form has changed most through the ages?

There are fashions that come and go. But I think it’s misleading to characterize beauty like this. No two people will even find the same things beautiful in the same way, just as no two snowflakes (that have ever fallen) have been the same. There is an opportunity for each and every one of us to look at the world and ask ourselves “What does beauty mean to me? What do I find beautiful?” People put way too much attention on what other’s think. It’s a waste of time because we can never control a person’s or a culture’s perceptions. The only perception of beauty we can every truly know, explore or heal is our own. And… I think I understand why people concern themselves with what others think. We all want to be accepted and loved. Instead of rejecting what culture projects, the opportunity is to create the world we want to live in by accepting and loving ourselves and each other. Part of that is accepting and loving what we each individually find beautiful.

What do you think makes a person most beautiful as an individual?

The thing that makes a person beautiful is my ability to see them as beautiful. There is only as much beauty in the world as any one of us is capable of seeing. Beauty does not exist outside of us. We create beauty, just as we create ugliness and judgement… it all occurs inside of us as we make assessments and interpretations. There is no beauty where there is no pair of eyes to experience it. Beauty is not a set of attributes for me to define. If I tell you what makes someone beautiful (inside or out), then I’m doing the same thing that people accuse culture of doing. We are all responsible for our own experience of beauty. We are all responsible for our own judgments of each other and ourselves.

Have you been surprised by the public’s response to Model Society?

I get messages every day from people who tell us that Model Society has given them the opportunity to see human bodies as beautiful… for the first time… without shame. I’m deeply moved and inspired by this. Model Society is here to help people wake up from the lies and hypnosis that would have us think of ourselves and each other as anything other than being perfectly beautiful. I am gratified that so many people have been moved by these amazing works of art. Many people are taught that nudity is shameful. When they have an experience of beauty that is finally free from these painful ideas, they are often moved to tears by the amazing miracle that they suddenly see in themselves and others.

Do you enjoy creating a project that reminds people to love their own body, however they may find it?

I’m pleased whenever people have a deep experience of beauty. No matter if someone sees beauty in themselves or in someone else, they are creating beauty. It’s really true (on a deep level) that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s the ONLY place that beauty actually exists. Accepting beauty in others is part of accepting beauty in ourselves. If I can’t embrace someone else’s body as beautiful I probably can’t embrace mine as beautiful.

How can other artists, photographers, and models join Model Society?

Simply go to the website and fill out an application. We are looking for model, photographers and artists who create images of models as true works of art. https://www.modelsociety.com/becomeamember.aspx/Register

What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

I like to draw. I love spending time with my amazing fiancé (who inspires me every day). I like to spend time with my dogs and I like to savor beauty in the world all around me. I love making music and connecting with people form all walks of life. I’m very curious about people and enjoy talking to them to uncover their own unique perspective on the world. I find people beautiful and I enjoy the contemplation of beauty… so I truly enjoy connecting people.

What projects are you most looking forward to showing the world next?

I’m looking forward to slowing down with all the administration and busy work associated with my projects so that I can put my attention back on what I’m best at… making art. I look forward to creating some new paintings and digital images. I’m feeling incredibly inspired and can hardly wait to see and share all the art that is ready to burst out of me.

Is there anything you’d like to say before you go?

Thanks for your interest in my art and in Model Society. (smiles)

Moxie in the Dreamscape

I’ve heard you can’t die in dreams. I’ve heard the shock always wakes you up. Oh sure, you’ll fall, but that dyskentic  kick or lunge and gasp for breath always sends you gasping on the surface of the third dimension , grateful and amused. Thank God, it was just a dream.

I am eyes darting, side to side in the severed head of Roy Orbison. I always take the form of Roy Orbison in my dreams, because I suppose my subconscious recognizes him as the epitome of cool. I don’t feel so cool now looking through dark sunglasses at my arm over here, my foot over there, and viscera scattered here and there. There is never blood in the dreamscape, just wounds and pieces.

I hear Moxie screaming and sobbing. He’s still working on Moxie. I don’t know what her father had against me–or us–but he told me if he ever caught me with her again he’d kill us both. Moxie’s father is a man of his word.  Right now, I hear him killing Moxie. I hear screaming. I am dead and haven’t returned to the surface. Moxie should also be on the surface now.

When the screaming stops I hear distant voices. Pieces of conversations from today and conversations from years ago play as a soundtrack,” Clear!” “I hate it when you cut yourself onstage,” “His lips are blue!” “I am so proud of you,” “I made a mistake,” I pick my ex-wife, Hannah’s voice from the din. “My father said you were unstable,” I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” “Please,” gray faces and movements like holographs, or ghosts, above, below, and all around.

A mime stands over me with an invisible axe held above its head. Moxie’s father always takes the form of a mime, but he still speaks, “I told you, leave my daughter alone!” he says and plunges the axe into Roy Orbison’s head. I flinch for impact, and when I open my eyes I am seeing from two angles. One angle sees pieces of me and pieces of Moxie scattered about. The mime steps over the pieces as he walks away and fades into the background.  The other angle is eye to eye with Moxie’s severed head. Her jade eye darts from side to side, relaxes and locks with mine. If I am dead and never return to the surface, this is more Heaven than I deserve.

Couples always have cute, funny, or ironic stories about their first date. Moxie and I were holding hands before we’d ever spoke with a scarab hookah between us, blowing blue smoke. We drifted on a transparent boat in a pink sea of infinity, above and below us, all serenity. She was nude; I was in Roy Orbison’s suit. I pushed red hair from jade eyes and leaned into her. Our bodies mixed into one being, beyond sex, and before the climax I awoke and saw the empty bottle of Ambien and all around were scattered beer cans and liquor bottles. We hadn’t spoken a word but I knew her name was Moxie and I had to get back to her.

Life on the surface was over. My band had split up; divorcing Hannah was about akin to self-amputating a gangrenous arm, and moving back in with mom, and then…then the horrible job at Target! I was already an alcoholic, but I was drinking myself into the next day without sleeping. I was prescribed Ambien, and the doctor said never mix the pills with booze, I of course did, and a suicide attempt during a drunken debauch led me to Moxie in the dreamscape. I would go through the motions of my surface life, clock in, and clock out, kiss mom goodbye, back to work, back home, three Ambien and a few shots, and back to the dreamscape, drifting with Moxie. Essentially, the same dream, with different variations, from us making love on wispy clouds of cotton candy to us on our backs gazing at skulls that pin-pricked a maroon sky.

My tolerance for the sleeping pills started to build and I had to take more, drink more, and when I did make it to the dreamscape in Moxie’s place was the mime. He never formally said he was her father. I just knew. Once in the dreamscape he tried to kiss me, and I denied him. Another time in the dreamscape I asked about Moxie and was told to leave her alone or he’d kill us both.

Here I am forever gazing into Moxie’s jade eyes as voices and movements undulate and morph, above, below, and around me. I single out my mother’s sobbing. I single out Hannah’s voice, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” “My father said you were unstable.”

Telepathic I love yous pass like Morse code between our eyes, “I love you, love you, love you…”

Jason Wayne Allen  has published stories in various horror, bizarro, and transgressive fiction publications and anthologies, appearing digitally as well as in print. He is currently part of the editing staff at Strangehouse Books. Jason Wayne is Southern by the disgrace of some dark god, but currently resides in the Midwest. jasonwayneallen.wordpress.com

Jeanne Kuhns is resident artist at Lost Moth Gallery in Egg Harbor, Wi. Her website is www.jeannekuhns.net

Walking up the rue du Odessa then walking back down again it’s tough to contemplate the parameters of transcendence when you’re looking for a bar, a bar in which a woman once whispered something into your ear, a bar in which Beckett once waited interminably for the barman to bring him a glass of Pernod. On the boulevard Edgar Quinet your shadow suddenly detaches, disappears into a film noir alley, leaving you in Sartre’s lonely ontology like a hapless fly in a chunk of amber. In the café some are seated, others are getting up and going away, some with a feisty truculence, some with a wavering kind of hesitation that distends the definition of time, while others are trying to appropriate the shambling remains of your subjectivity. And in the many stately plane trees on the other side of the square the red squirrels are dying of old age.

Mark Terrill shipped out of San Francisco as a merchant seaman to the Far East and beyond, studied and spent time with Paul Bowles in Tangier, Morocco, and his lived in Germany since 1984, where he’s worked as a shipyard welder, road manager for rock bands, cook and postal worker. He is the author of Bread & Fish (The Figures), The United Colors of Death (Pathwise Press), The Salvador-Dalai-Lama Express, (Main Street Rag), Superabundance (Longhouse), Laughing Butcher Berlin Blues (Poetry Salzburg) and several other collections of poetry, prose, memoir and translations.