Interview with dark fiction writer Alan Amrhine

Author Alan Amrhine joins me today to chat about his new horror anthology, Voices and Other Unsettling Tales.

Bio:
Alan Amrhine writes from Baltimore, the town that killed and buried Poe.

“When the fog drifts in from the harbor and lies wet on the cobblestones; when that mist envelops any sharp sounds and pulls them to the ground like dying pigeons; when the ghosts walk unseen and unknown through that cold steam—listen, and you can hear it, right at the edge of reason. You can feel it thrum—insistent!—growing until it rattles your bones. It is the beating of the old man’s heart.”

Obviously, I have a fascination with Edgar Allan Poe. I was actually named for him, but, as a kid, a bully knocked the “L” out of me, and so I am left merely as Alan. Other influences include Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, H.P. Lovecraft, Dylan Thomas, Damon Knight, Harlan Ellison, Dr. Seuss—there are so many. The great Rod Serling hooked me early with The Twilight Zone.

I live on the outskirts of Baltimore with my wife of 40 years and all the ghosts in my attic. In the picture I’m holding my granddaughter. Interestingly, this picture is very much like my stories—things are not necessarily as they seem. Though pretending to nap, she has her hand clandestinely plunged into Pop Pop’s shirt pocket, sadly indicating an early start to a life of crime as a pickpocket.

What do you enjoy most about writing short stories/children’s books/novellas?
I love the power and intensity that short stories can bring to the reader . . . and the writer. And, as a writer, I enjoy the immediacy of short story creation. Sure, an idea can bounce around for a while in my head, but many times a first draft can be accomplished in one sitting at the typewriter, um . . . keyboard. Also, a good short story doesn’t contain any fat—every sentence careens toward the final point.

Can you give us a little insight into a few of your short stories – perhaps some of your favorites?
I found, in writing the story intros that appear in Voices and Other Unsettling Tales, that it’s tough giving insight into stories that often contain a twist or surprise ending without giving away too much. One of my favorites in the book is “Valerie” for several reasons. I started the story when I was 19 and finished at the age of 70. No, I wasn’t working on it the whole time—it sat collecting dust for all those years. It was my first short story, and therefore very important to me, and it was based on two real characters who frequented the Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in the early 1970s. The story and the names are fictional, of course, but I was fascinated by these two seemingly mismatched guys coming together for a couple hours each night to stave off the loneliness in their lives. Anyway, “Valerie” never seemed right until I ate a few M&Ms recently. Hmm, soft center and hard shell. I put a hard shell on the tale, telling it from the perspective of a disgraced detective/PI and, voila . . .

What genre are you inspired to write in the most? Why?
I grew up on short stories back in the 60s when pulp magazines still flourished—Fantasy & Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, and the like. Even the second-tier men’s magazines of the time—Adam and Knight, for example (okay, I was too young for them, don’t tell my mom) featured short stories by Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Damon Knight, et al. Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone brought this great genre into millions of homes for a half hour every week. I was forever hooked on these tales. My stories are a mixed bag, ranging from light horror to supernatural drama to odd morality plays.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I’m currently working on two novels, one of which—Dust and Forever—will be available on Amazon this spring. It’s a story of the medieval and modern worlds crashing together; of characters who are more, and less, than what they seem; of a quest to thwart the ultimate blasphemy; of a hero’s grasp at redemption and finding that love may be the most powerful magic of all. I’m excited about this project. The critiques have been very positive.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve always had a hard time considering myself a writer because of the great authors I admired. They were writers. I finally understood, okay, anyone who actively writes is a writer. And, recently, with the publication of Voices and Other Unsettling Tales, I’ve now become an author. But there’s always that striving to be better, that nagging doubt that I’m not good enough, that drive to keep improving in the craft of writing. What is very cool now, however, is that in rereading some of the stories by authors I’ve idolized, I find that they were not perfect—there are improvements that could be made and even some rare writing blunders in the stories. It’s comforting to know that even the gods have feet of clay, though gods they are and will forever be.

How do you research markets for your work, perhaps as some advice for writers?
I am the world’s worst researcher. Don’t believe me? Ask my 6^th grade teacher. Well, you can’t outside of a séance, but I’m telling the truth. Actually, I write the kind of stories that I love to read; I write stories and characters I can believe in and care about. Sure, I’d like to go out to my mailbox and get a Stephen King or James Patterson size check (okay, nobody gets paid by check anymore), but, in reality, most writers don’t make a lot of money. I’ve got to write what I love, and I hope the books find their way into the hands of readers who love the same. I know they’re out there, all twenty or thirty of them. Seriously, I may be naïve, but if I had to write stories I don’t believe in just to be commercially viable, I’d rather just soak up the rays in retirement.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Working on my novels, I sometimes write chapters out of order. At times, a future scene appears fully-formed in my mind and I have to go with the hot hand and get it down before it dissipates. As I begin a book project, I always have the first and last chapters down to the word—it’s then simply a matter of filling in the intervening 50 chapters.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
As a kid, I thought about being a scientist, an astronaut, or a writer. You already know about my research skills, so there went scientist. Astronaut bit the dust because I’m scared of heights. Writer was left, by default.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I’ve been told short stories are not as popular with readers as they once were, and that had me bewildered. In our hectic world, with supposed decreased attention spans and immediate gratification demands, I would think short stories would be more popular than ever. But then, several readers of my stories made a comment on the order of, “I really enjoyed that story. I didn’t want it to end.” Maybe that’s it. It would certainly explain the extreme devotion to book series, too. Readers want that connection with characters, especially in our electronic, sometimes dispassionate and distant environment. Maybe we need that strong bond with fictional characters, especially if we don’t have it with the real folks in our lives. I’ll still continue to write short stories—it’s in my blood. But also look for my novel Dust and Forever on Amazon this spring. I think you’ll love these characters.

Thank you to Lisa Haselton for this opportunity to connect, and to the readers for stopping by. All the best to everyone.

Thanks for being here today! Happy writing.