 BIO Joe Albanese is a writer from South Jersey. His work can be found in publications across the U.S. and in ten other countries. Joe is the author of Benevolent King, Candy Apple Red, For the Blood is the Life, Caina, Smash and Grab, and a poetry collection, Cocktails with a Dead Man. WEBSITE LINKS https://twitter.com/JoeAlba88 https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17770507.Joe_Albanese https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Albanese/e/B07B6SVZ4G/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself? I first started writing about six or seven years ago when my friend asked if I’d write a screenplay with him. He was high at the time. I was only drunk. It didn't turn out so well. Our only script together was terrible. He stopped shortly after our first script. I tried a couple more on my own. Since then I switched to writing books and poetry where I found more success and enjoyment. Most of my books are some sort of crime fiction, from crime-horror, crime-comedy, to even erotic-crime. To get the ball rolling and get everyone relaxed, here is a hopefully lighthearted question to break the ice, which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life and have them complain at you about they way you treated them in your work. The vampire in For the Blood is the Life is not someone I’d want to run into. He’s not a big fan of having his secrets revealed, so I doubt any form of writing about him would get me on his good side. If you read the book, you’d know how that would turn out for me. Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing? I went to college for Criminal Justice. I lost interest in getting a “real” job in that field, but since most of my stories have some sort of criminal element to them, I guess it stuck with me. So my parents didn't waste their money, at least not entirely. 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? I certainly watch more horror movies than read horror stories because of time constraints, so most of my opinions come from that. Horror tends to be low-budget, which means more people can make them, which means there are so many of them. My Netflix account (aka my sister’s account that I stole) is filled with horror recommendations because I watch so many. Much like how action movies seem to be mindless, horror tends to be emotionless: a bunch of characters you don’t care about, just waiting to see who will be offed next. I tried to put more emotion in For the Blood is the Life. While there are certainly horror influences to be found in it, the biggest influence was Kramer vs. Kramer. I hope more writers put an emotional element in their stories. 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’d like to give an original answer to this that will enlighten everyone, but all I can do is point to Black Mirror. That’s way ahead of anything I could even guess. Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it? I can only say whey I enjoy it, and maybe others will feel the same way. I need to feel something when I read. I almost never feel secondhand sadness or joy from characters on books, I don’t know why. But i do feel fear. Nothing gets your heart racing like reading a scary passage in the middle of the night and all of a sudden something goes bump in the night. What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre? If I knew what was missing, I’d have written it already to be ahead of the game. In the past authors were able to write about almost anything with a far lesser degree of the fear of backlash, but this has all changed in recent years. These days authors must be more aware of representation an the depiction of things such as race and gender in their works, how aware are you of these things and what steps have you taken to ensure that your writing can’t be viewed as being offensive to a minority group? You need to represent people accurately…but only if it’s in a positive light. Everyone says they hate stereotypes, but you’ll never hear someone complain that they were stereoptyped in a way that makes them look good. There are gay or lesbian characters in all but one of my fiction books. Sometimes they’re good, others bad. So I just write what I think will be best for the story. If people think it’s good representation, good. If not, oh well. You can't please everyone. Does horror fiction perpetuate it’s own ghettoization? Bad or unoriginal horror fiction certainly does. Thankfully there are plenty of innovative creators who are breaking the mold when it comes to horror that it’s no longer restricted to what we’ve seen or read so much of and grown tired of. What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off? I recently read a book by Chris DeVito, Kakorrhaphiophobia. Yes, I had to look up the spelling. No, I don't know how to pronounce it. That was really scary and I look forward to reading more of his work. Honestly I don’t read as many new authors as I should. I always complain not enough readers read my work because I’m a new author. I guess I’m part of the problem. What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author? My poetry was greatly influenced by Charles Bukowksi. Not that our styles are that similar, but I was never a fan of poetry until I read several of his books. My fiction is probably an amalgam of all the fiction I’ve ever read, from R.L. Stine as a kid to James Joyce as an adult. Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you? The review I enjoy the most came form a nice young girl who read Caina. She said something along the lines of “As a young, Christian girl I did not like having those words in my head as I tried to go to bed.” Which words exactly, I have no idea, because Caina is probably the least offensive book I’ve written. Sure there’s some profanity, but it’s pretty tame. She gave it three stars though, which is much better than I expected considering how damaging it was to her emotionally. What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult? “Where do you get your ideas?” Fuck if I know! If I knew that, I’d be there more often and never run out of ideas or get writer’s block. Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? I’d always try to stay away from politics. Either seriously or with a jokes. People are so defensive nowadays that if you write something they agree with, they’ll automatically give it more credit than it deserves, saying it’s great writing or hilarious. If you write something they disagree with, they’ll automatically dismiss it and call it bad writing or not funny. There’s little to no objectivity when it comes to politics. How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? Sometimes names are important to me, other times they’re not. For the Blood is the Life has several characters that are named after some of the earliest real-life vampire hunters and researchers. Here’s one: The protagonist, Evan Summers, is named after Montague Summers. The original name for the vampire was going to be Paul, named after Arnold Paul, one of the earliest “real” vampires. It was also a nod to the old Hammer Films where there was always a random characters named Paul in the Dracula movies. But in the end I decided to keep him unnamed to keep his history more mysterious. Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? I stopped writing with fear. “Will agents like this? Will publishers like it? Will readers?” When you ask yourself too many of these questions doubt will fill your mind and you’ll never make progress. The more I write for myself, the more freely I write, and the better it tends to be (at least in my mind). What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing? “Don’t write what you know, write what you enjoy.” To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favorite child, and who is your least favorite to write for and why? Lee from Caina tends to be my favorite and most hated. Caina is written in the first person, so it’s the closest to my own personality, which means he is closest to me. I guess when you have children, the one closest to your personality is the one you are toughest on. For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why? Smash and Grab is probably the best representation of who I am as a writer. It’s pure crime, but there are hints of my comedy and the type of mysteries I like to have unfold. It’s also my shortest book at only 13,000 words. My training was in screenwriting, so I’m used to getting straight to the point. If I know you personally, I’m most likely to recommend Caina though. It matches my personality and sense of humor best. Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us? I’m not good at judging my own work. But I’ve been told the opening paragraph from Candy Apple Red is really good. I don't know. you tell me. “New York City is most honest in those early hours—when yesterday is over but today has yet to begin. You can see which couples are a hot flame that will burn too quickly. You can see which ones have or will stand the test of time. It’s all in how they hold each other’s hands. You can see how much love costs per hour in the prostitutes leaning into car windows. How many strip club marquees are there? Never enough on these transitional nights. Are the strangers on the street corner simply chatting, or are they reaching for something more? You can witness a couple’s fist kiss followed by their embarrassed smiles that soon follow. Immediately after you may see a couple fight it out, oblivious or unconcerned with the judging eyes on them. Late nights are for sex. Late nights are for love. Late nights are when the world is most alive.” Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next? My latest book, Benevolent King, was just released September 25th, 2019. It’s a crime novel about a gang leader who steals a shipment of Colombian Devil’s Breath and tries to grow the most powerful gang in Baltimore, but a blackmailer and fissure within the organization may get in the way. It’s the longest book I’ve ever written by far, so I’m really excited about getting it out there. If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice? Horror gets too predictable with who will live. It’s always the nice, pretty girl. It takes away all suspense whenever she is in danger. “Oh no, the killer is in the house 20 minutes in. Will she survive?” Of course she will. It goes back to the old adage, “Only a virgin can outsmart the killer.” They’re no longer virgins, but the basics remain. What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you? I’m reading October Dreams now and am really enjoying it. It’s a collection of short stories, fiction and nonfiction, that have to do with Halloween. It’s October now, so as much as I enjoy the fiction, it’s the stories having to do with the writers’ favorite Halloween memories that really get me in the autumn or Halloween spirit. Not gonna lie. I couldn't get through 20 pages of Pride and Prejudice. I don’t know why, but it couldn't hold my attention. Normally I wouldn't care about not liking a book, but I’m a big fan of You’ve Got Mail, so I feel like I need to like it. What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer? Q: “Joe, how do you stay so handsome?” A: “Joe, you’re talking to yourself again.”  Travis, a gangbanger, has aspirations of being the most powerful gang leader in all of Baltimore. After boosting a shipment of Colombian Devil's Breath, his goals may become reality. That is until Isaac, a small-time drug dealer, finds out a secret about Travis that may ruin his plans. When Shannon, torn between the two and herself, becomes a fissure in the gang, there is no telling who will come out the victor, and where each may end up. A story of drugs, guns, loyalty, blackmail, betrayal, and identity.   the heart and soul of horror interviewsComments are closed.
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