5 Minutes With Peter giglio

Please welcome Peter Giglio.
  
 Pushcart Prize nominee and an active member of the Horror Writers Association, Peter Giglio is the author of four novels, three novellas, and he edits a successful line of books for Evil Jester Press. His works of short fiction can be found in a number of notable volumes, including two comprehensive genre anthologies edited by New York Times Bestselling author John Skipp. With Scott Bradley, Peter wrote the author-approved screen adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale's "The Night They Missed the Horror Show," and an established screenwriting team in Los Angeles holds the film option on Giglio's Sunfall Manor. He resides in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he stays out of trouble.

Website: www.petergiglio.com. Blog: http://petergiglioauthor.blogspot.com/.

And please stay tuned for a much more in-depth interview with Peter.  

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

A Pushcart Prize nominee and an active member of the Horror Writers Association, Peter Giglio is the author of five novels, three novellas, and he edits a successful line of books for Evil Jester Press. His works of short fiction can be found in a number of notable volumes, including two comprehensive genre anthologies edited by New York Times Bestselling author John Skipp. With Scott Bradley, Peter wrote the author-approved screen adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale's "The Night They Missed the Horror Show," and an established screenwriting team in Los Angeles holds the film option on Giglio's novella Sunfall Manor. He resides in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he stays out of trouble.

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Do you prefer the term Horror, Weird Fiction or Dark Fiction?

When genre labels aren’t limiting the potential audience of a work, they tend to create an unfair expectation with certain readers. I’m concerned when readers are locked into one type of storytelling, because my range as a writer, I like to think, is broad. I guess I prefer the “Dark Fiction” brand. Everything I write is dark, but not everything fits easily into the current definition of “Horror.”   

Who are some of your favourite authors?

Philip K. Dick, William Goldman, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, John Farris, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub.

What are you reading now?

I’m rereading Little Brothers by Rick Hautala, preparing a pitch for a production company. Fingers and toes crossed that I can get a studio interested so that Scott Bradley (my frequent writing partner) and I can write the screenplay. I’ve owned the film option for a little over a year.

Also, I just finished reading NOS4A2 by Joe Hill and was blown away, and Snow by Ronald Malfi, which is a really tasty horror novel that I highly recommend.

 Which book do you wish you had written?

The book I envy the most is Ubik by Philip K. Dick.

If you could use any other author’s creation in your own work, who or what would you use?

That’s a tough question. Some of my works have been influenced by other writers—my forthcoming novel from DarkFuse, Lesser Creatures, was certainly inspired by Philip K. Dick. But I didn’t use any of his creations in the book, nor did I want to. If I could be hired to write any kind of a tie-in to an existing franchise, I wouldn’t mind writing a Firefly novel—that’d be fun, and I would relish the job. That said, you’re not going to see any fan fiction from me. If someone wants to hire me to write a novelization, however, here I am! That’s good work if you can get it.   

Describe typical day spent writing. Do you have any unusual writing habits?

I don’t think I have any habits at all. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know. I find that every book is a different beast than the last, and so I approach each project differently. Sometimes a project is just dying to get out, causing me to wake up early and stay up late, writing my ass off for hours at a time--Lesser Creatures and Stealing Night were like that. My current project isn’t like that. Though I outlined it, I find myself constantly going in different directions, and I’m happy with where my muse is taking me, even if the process is slower this time around. I’m also a managing editor with a lot on my plate, and a screenwriter with a couple irons in the fire, so time is frequently not on my side. When I write a book, I try to block out a month in advance, clearing my schedule of anything that isn’t writing. I wasn’t able to do that with the book I’m working on now; we’ll see how that works out. As it stands, each day is new adventure, and I like that.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?

I’d say it’s a tie between Stealing Night and Lesser Creatures.

What is the hardest lesson you have learned with regards to your writing?

The hardest lessons are the ones we don’t learn.

What do you like to do to relax?

I like to read and travel.

Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?

The most recent book I completed was Lesser Creatures. It’s a dark science fiction novel that will be released in a limited edition hardcover, trade paperback, and eBook, by DarkFuse in December. This is what Joe McKinney had to say about it:

“What does it mean to be human? I thought, after reading my way through Philip K. Dick, that we had counted the ways in total. But Peter Giglio has shown me a new way, one that is closely allied with Dick’s many countings of consciousness, and yet something completely new. Part magic, part love, part fan love of everything that is great and awe-inspiring about genre fiction and rock and roll and that inner rage that just won’t die no matter how old we get, Lesser Creature Love Song is simply beautiful. I read this book with impatience, turning pages as fast as I could, yet regretting every single one that had gone by, for this is Peter Giglio at his best. This is a triumph. This is what the zombie had the promise to be all along. I loved every word of this book. It fed me when I was looking for inspiration.”

The book I’m writing now is titled When We Fall Down. It’s a paranormal coming-of-age tale set in mid-1980s that revolves around death, guilt, and Super 8 movies.   


If you like the sound of Peter's writing, and you fancy reading some of it, then please consider clicking the links below.  The small remuneration I get from these links, helps to pay for the upkeep of this site.  

Peter's Books on Amazon UK

Peter's Books on Amazon.com