Mike McCarty, Continued...
HG: Of all your stories, which ones would you consider your favorites and why?
Michael McCarty: A tough question. I will try to answer it as best I can... I’ve written about one hundred short stories. I have two collections, Dark Duets and All Things Dark and Hideous, and a third one I’m currently shopping around called Little Creatures, as well as one I’m at work on entitled A Town Called Wicked, another collaboration. I probably shouldn’t answer this, because one should never tell their children which child is their favorite. To purchase any of my books, please go to Shocklines at: www.shocklines.com
HG: You’ve taken part in a number of collaborations with both established and aspiring authors. Do you enjoy the process? What have been some of your favorite joint efforts?
Michael McCarty: I really do enjoy collaborating. I come from a background of playing in bands, and in bands songwriters sit down together to write songs. I mean, Dark Duets is 10 authors, 15 tales. My other collaborations include the novel Monster Behind the Wheel with Mark McLaughlin, our short story collection All Things Dark and Hideous, and the just-completed science fiction novel Out of Time, an 80,000 word thriller about a famous rock star who must travel back in time to rescue the world and the love of his life.
Because I played in bands, I enjoy working with different writers. When you work with another writer they bring their expertise, color their prose differently, bring in new ideas, bring in new characters. It’s a very exciting process. I love it.
HG: You have interviewed many literary legends for your Giants of the Genre and More Giants of the Genre and the upcoming Modern Mythmakers. How does one arrange to interview so many authors? Are there authors you still wish to interview?
Michael McCarty: For me, the hardest thing is to get these interviews lined up. Sometimes, they take years to set up. I deal with a lot of people: book publishers, agents, editors, writers, writers’ friends, writers’ spouses. There are a lot of phone calls, emails, letters, etc. I’ve been very, very lucky. Some of the interviews take a while to put together. It took me about three years to land the interview with Dean Koontz and Harlan Ellison. It took me about two years to get Richard Matheson to agree to be interviewed.
Other interviews surprised me at how fast they happened: Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub, Frederik Pohl, Laurell K. Hamilton, The Amazing Kreskin, Harry Turtledove, Terry Brooks, Michael Romkey, Whitley Streiber, Poppy Z. Brite and Dan Curtis.
I always wanted to interview Stephen King and George Romero. I actually came close with George. We played phone tag for a while. I’d love to do an interview with Jennifer Tilly. I was supposed to do an interview with her last year, but she won a big poker tournament and couldn’t do the interview. I like talking to the buxom babes of horror. So far I’ve interviewed Elvira, Adrienne Barbeau, Kathryn Leigh Scott and Lara Parker [The Dark Shadows ladies] and Ingrid Pitt. I would also love to interview David Cronenberg--I’m a huge fan.
HG: What can you tell us about Monster Behind the Wheel?
Michael McCarty: The automobile is the most dangerous weapon in our society. Cars kill more people than wars do. More than 50,000 people will die this year in car accidents.
During his childhood, Jeremy Carmichael falls from a Ferris wheel, landing on and killing a beautiful woman. Years later, as a young man, he is involved in a horrific car crash. Soon he finds himself transported between the worlds of the living and the dead on an all-too-regular basis. Jeremy strikes a bargain with an older woman and purchases her car (a 1970 Barracuda), exchanging sexual favors in return for a reduced payment plan. Then, all hell breaks loose---literally. We learn the shocking aftermath of that long-ago fall from the Ferris wheel.
This novel is a surreal helter-skelter ride of thrills, humor, lust, gut-wrenching horror, cosmic awe and oil changes. I hope the readers will enjoy it. It took five years of my and Mark’s life to finish it.
HG: How would you describe your protagonist, Jeremy Carmichael, from Monster Behind the Wheel in 10 words or less?
Michael McCarty: He’s a young man desperate to outrace his own demons.
HG: Why did you choose a 1970 Barracuda as the haunted car?
Michael McCarty: The 1970 Barracuda was completely restyled and re-engineered. It was considered then and remains to this day one of the finest muscle car designs from Chrysler Motor Company. The high-performance ‘Cuda model came standard with the high-performance 426 Hemi engine. The car also had the shaker hoodscoop that sat atop the 426 six-barrel. It was, and still is, a real monster on the road. It could eat Christine for breakfast.
HG: What can you tell us about your other “Monster” book, The Monster Hunter?
Michael McCarty: The Monster Hunter: The Adventures of Tommy Wharton tells the story of a teenager, Tommy Wharton, a horny, overweight high school geek from Edgeville, California. Basically, it’s a funny adventure full of sex, gore and monsters. It is my tribute to the late, great Richard Laymon. I met him at the World Horror Convention in Denver in 2000; I was a huge fan of his. Bentley Little is going to write the introduction to the book. It will be out in early 2008 from Skullvine Press. It should be a fun book.
HG: Last words?
Michael McCarty: Thank you, Connie, for conducting this interview. I enjoyed doing it. Thank you, Horror Garage for publishing it. X
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