AUTHOR INTERVIEW: FIVE MINUTES WITH PAUL LUBACZEWSKI

Before deciding to take writing seriously Paul had done many things, printer, caving, the SCA, Brew-master, punk singer, music critic etc. Since then he has appeared in numerous science fiction, and horror magazines and anthologies. Born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, he moved to Appalachia in his 30s  for the peace and adventure that can be found there. He has three children, two who live in his native Pennsylvania, and one interrupting his writing constantly at home. Married to his lovely wife Leslie for twenty years, they live in a fairy tale town in nestled in a valley by a river. Author of over 50 published stories, his debut novel “I Never Eat…Cheesesteak” will be in stores early in 2019

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself? 

Well the bio gets a lot of it. But I guess to get to the parts that led to me writing. I had decided I wasn’t going to be a writer when I was a teenager, mainly because everyone said, “I’ll bet you’ll be a writer one day” I’m a natural born contrarian. But being the lead singer of a relatively known punk band, led to be a DJ. Being a DJ led to writing music reviews for Spark Plug Magazine amount other places. By that point I had enough life experience to decide to go for it with writing.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Cave, photograph waterfalls and URBEX… explore really. It’s an interesting world and we’re only here for so long.

 Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?

Comedy and 19th Century Russian Lit. I had a, less then ideal childhood. It left me thinking that even if everything is bleak, you should probably make fun of it. The beats, the new wave of sci fi also were a huge influence. Maybe a bit of French existentialism as well.

The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations. What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?

 To some degree I try to do just that with my short stories. I was really influenced by the new wave of sci fi, guys like Zelazny and Ballard who really pushed the boundaries of writing itself, let along the ideas in it. I was raised with the classics as far as films, I’ve always believed that horror could and should try to be art if it can. Nothing against a good old-fashioned slasher, but there’s nothing new there.

 A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?

 I slide politics in, sort of a base idea of “do unto others” but enforced with horrible consequences. Right now it’s hard, you want to write the fantastical, and considering our current President, you tell me, what would fantastical even look like at this point?


What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?

Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and Imagination” “Roger Zelazny “Creatures of Light And Darkness” are a couple of books I always slide back to. Films are endless. You remember those big table top pictorial books on horror movies in the 70s? Remember how they would always be checked out? That was because I’d checked them out. It can go everywhere from Bride of Frankenstein, to Dracula Prince Of Darkness, to Henry Portrait Of A Serial Killer, to Dog Soldiers

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?

Joseph Rubas, Stephen Hernandez, Gary Murphy, Andrew Snook

How would you describe your writing style?

I often write plain jane old fashioned horror stories, and my upcoming novel is horror comedy. That being said, the short stories I enjoy of my own are sort of like “new wave of science fiction comes to horror”

Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

Negative reviews sting for a minute, but you have to let those goes. What with selling your book to publishers, rejections of shorts yadda yadda, you have enough to deal with.
As far as positive, I think I would be fine with this on my tombstone. “The most enigmatic of the bunch, about the erosion of old ways of life by "progress." Equal parts Ballard and Carver.”

What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?

Being your own agent. That is a major time drain with lots of mental beatings for your effort. Editing can be a drag, you go over something three times, and there’s still a typo. Enough to make you pull your own hair out.

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?

I’d like to say no. As a writer your supposed to write about life, but I haven’t TRIED to write about everything yet. Maybe there is something I’ll hit a brick wall on. I don’t know I’ve been able to slide real emotions from my own childhood and that was pretty brutal, so…. But you never know, there might be a wall someday.

 How important are names to you in your books?

I try to put a lot of effort in to them, but of course, the way to know you got that right is if it sounds like it just boringly slots in to place right?

Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?

I check the age of my character, the part of the country they’re in, then I go and research what were the popular names at that time. After that, the one I look at and go, “That’s him/her!”

Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?

Well you learn your craft as you go. You shave off all the bad habits if editors point them out to you (you could always tell when I was REALLY excited at an action sequence, proper nouns went out the window) You become a better editor of yourself. You know your craft well enough that you spend less time struggling to describe what you see in your head. Your process becomes more professional.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

Word. Seriously, there are all kinds of editing software that’s available, but Word is probably the most trustworthy. When I started I used an open source word processor program (actually I still like it to write with) and then try to edit with Grammarly. It turns out Grammarly misses a TON of stuff. Just get Word if you can afford it.

 What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?

Really, this sounds trite, but the editor of Aphelion caught the pronoun/ proper noun issue. Once I saw it I was just like, “I’ve been publishing stories for over a year now like this?”

It may sound silly, but it isn’t.

Also points to my publisher at 50/50 for figuring out why the one chapter wasn’t working.

Sometimes it’s just nuts and bolts stuff that matters.

Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?

Write a LOT. One editor called me one of the hardest working writers in the business. Always go for new markets, new readers, don’t be afraid of rejection when you do it. Your stories aren’t going to appeal to everyone, you’ll find the right editor eventually.

But if you’re always publishing for the same readers who already know you, you’re going nowhere fast. 

To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least favourite to write for and why?

I liked writing Al, in my upcoming book. He’s kind of everybody in their early 20s, drifting through life with no real clue what he wanted to do, or what he wanted out of life. He feels like a fully formed human. The lead character in “Heart of The Town” which was in Schlock.UK is a total prick. It was cathartic to write as a complaint about modern life, but I hated the guy’s guts every bit as much as the reader is supposed to.

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

Probably something nobody but I got. Joke, maybe, sort of. I kind of forget things once they’re done. “From the Very Clay He Made Us” in Blood Reign Lit this year is quite good. “Last of The Ashiptu” made third in Editors and Preditors poll. I’m really proud of an emotional catharsis piece “Komodo Dancer” that was just in Schlock.

And, yeah, I have a novel coming out soon, and I’m pretty proud of “I Never Eat…Cheesesteak” it’s funny and has a few good creeps in it.

And are there any that you would like to forget about?

Already forgotten about them. There are some typos that out there that if everybody could pretend never happened, yeah, that’d be swell.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?

  They were silent for a second, before James said, “I wonder, when we do
get lucky. I wonder what I'm just waiting to become.”
    “What does it matter? I'll love you however you look, so what does it even
matter?”
      He leaned over, and quickly kissed her, “Nothing, it matters nothing at all.”

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

“I Never Eat…Cheesesteak” is  a horror comedy. I like horror-comedy for a full length. I prefer short story as a format for pure horror. In this case it was an homage, to both my hometown of Philadelphia, and the no longer loved, the no longer the hero, the mighty vampire hunter. Oh, and there are enough Philly Punk history Easter eggs in there to fill a basket.

The book that’s written that I’m editing is more of the same style wise and called “The Cult Of The Gator God” , it is my revenge for having to live in Florida for a year of my life.

Hopefully I’ll have a collection out at some point that will just be more or less pure horror. With over 50 stories published in one format or another I have more than enough material to choose from.

If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

Only one huh? The double clutch ending. Dude just let it end, nobody is surprised any more and at this point a successful conclusion is more satisfying then the twist “The End…or is it?” stuff.

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?

Catherine Jinks “The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group” which was a fun piece of fluff.
OK, I will try to avoid hitting any author who still has smallish sales here, the last two that really did would be there. The last BIG author to disappoint was when I finally got around to reading the Dead Zone. The dialogue was just SO hokey it was distracting. And hey, he’s not hurting for money, so me talking smack means nothing.

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?

“Do you miss being in a band”

“Sometimes, but really, my wife puts up with enough of my crap already.”
 

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PAUL PLEASE FOLLOW THESE LINKS 

Photography Page: https://www.redbubble.com/people/paullu?ref=account-nav-dropdown&asc=u

editor: Long Live The Horror https://www.facebook.com/LongLiveTheHorror/
A Touch Of Evil www.facebook.com/touchofevilhorror/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulLubaczewski

webpage: https://www.facebook.com/lubaczewskiearlsonrevpaul/