Today we welcome author Jon Black to the site with an interview to promote his new book Gabriel's Trumpet. We are also offering a chance for the readers of the site to win one of three copies of his book, details of how to enter can be found at the end of the interview, and be sure to check out the excerpt from Gabriel's Trumpet, which was featured on our site yesterday by clicking here
Multi-award winning author Jon Black Jon Black writes historical fiction with pulp, supernatural, or horror flavors. His Bel Nemeton series combines 6th century Arthurian historical fantasy with brainy 21st century pulp. Its first book, also called Bel Nemeton, won Best Thriller Novel of 2018 in the Preditors & Editors Readers’ Poll. Reviewers have called the novel “An Intellectual ‘Tomb Raider.’” Jon is also a two-time winner of P&E’s Best Short Story (All Other Genres): in 2017 for his Jazz Age supernatural mystery, “Gabriel’s Trumpet,” and in 2018 for his pulpy mystery (and Sherlock Holmes homage) “A Scandal in Hollywood” set in Tinsel Town’s Golden Age. His other publications include “Swinging Londons,” a novel-length Dr. Who story included in Defending Earth, an anthology of Sarah Jane Smith stories raising money for cancer research, as well as many other novellas and short stories. Jon is also an internationally-published music journalist and music historian, a perspective he brings into much of his fiction. His other writing work includes ghostwriting, speechwriting, and roleplaying games. He has spoken on author outreach, writing for roleplaying games, and the use of music in fiction to ArmadilloCon, the Texas Library Association, and other audiences. Jon began writing fiction when he was 43 years-old … and wishes he had started much sooner. Raised in a university town north of Dallas, Jon lived in Egypt for several years, bounced to various locations around the world, and ultimately landed in Austin. His previous jobs include archaeological excavator, Benjamin Franklin impersonator, embassy worker, graduate assistant, newspaper reporter, pizza jockey, political speechwriter, small business owner, substitute teacher, and summer camp counselor…not always in the order one might expect.
WEBSITE LINKS
www.jonblackwrites.com www.facebook.com/JonBlackAuthor/ @blackonblues https://www.amazon.com/Jon-Black/e/B01MEFVIWT
Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?
I am best known as a writer keeping one foot in historical fiction, while using the other foot to drag in elements of horror, pulp, and the supernatural. In addition to fiction, I am an internationally-published music journalist and music historian, an obsession working its way into much of my fiction. My other writing work includes ghostwriting, speechwriting, and roleplaying games. Coming to fiction writing relatively late in life, I submitted my first short story when I was 43 … and was fortunate enough to land a book deal out of it. My previous employment include archaeological excavator, Benjamin Franklin impersonator, embassy worker, graduate assistant, newspaper reporter, pizza jockey, political speechwriter, small business owner, substitute teacher, and summer camp counselor. 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. That would have to be New Orleans photographer E.J. Bellocq -- and he would probably be right to do so. A historical figure, Bellocq is justly celebrated for candid and humanizing photographs of the inhabitants of Storyville, New Orleans’ famous/infamous red-light district at the turn of the last century. In Gabriel’s Trumpet, a visit to Bellocq’s studio provides a clue pivotal to the protagonist’s investigation. While history documents that Bellocq could be eccentric and irascible, my portrayal of him adds a layer of creepy menace that was beneficial to the narrative but not supported by the historical record. Whenever I deviate from established sources in portraying historical figures, I am careful to detail this in the notes at a story’s end. While Gabriel’s Trumpet is no exception, I’m still not sure I’d want to hear what Mr. Bellocq would have to say about it. Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing? Long before trying my hand at fiction, I worked as a music journalist and music historian. Through that vocation, I cultivated a highly descriptive, sensate writing style intended to put readers right there at concerts beside me. I bring the same approach to my fiction, especially horror. That passion for music is something I am unable to keep out of my stories. While few are as explicitly musical in their orientation as Gabriel’s Trumpet, music weaves its way into almost everything I write. 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 embrace the term horror, though such a broad label often benefits from supplementing with something more specific, such as Mythos, Gothic, supernatural mystery, etc. I am far from convinced whether there are assumptions regarding horror which need to be broken past. To the extent that a liability exists, I wonder if that is a burden we place upon ourselves by sheepishly acting as if there is something unseemly about what we do rather than singing it loudly and proudly to the world. 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? As a private person, I bemoan so much about our world’s current condition. As an artist, I can at least appreciate that moments of sociopolitical tension are fertile ground for art (Exhibit A: punk music). While much of our current tension will no doubt manifest through the subconscious as good general horror, I think we will see some issues (most notably climate crisis and privacy/identity issues posed by new technology) manifest more explicitly in the horror of coming years. Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it? From the Epic of Gilgamesh to the oldest surviving epic poetry of oral traditions, it is clear storytellers and their audiences have always enjoyed an element of the supernatural, the terrifying, and the grotesque. I think horror allows humans to process their fears and anxieties in safe, comfortable, and even pleasurable environment via storytelling. Regarding supernatural horror specifically, I believe there is an extra appeal because even the darkest of tales contain a hopeful element –positing the presence of “something more” and a broader meaning and context to existence. What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre? As with every corner of fiction, we would benefit from a more diverse cast of characters: as protagonists, antagonists, and in every other kind of role. 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? This is a critical point. Though our journey is far from complete, authors are increasingly aware of how important respect and sensitivity are in portraying our characters and themes as well as realizing that the concept of “the other” in fiction requires radical reconceptualization. At the same time, there is a risk that if we grow so timid that we only tell stories about characters like ourselves, we cut ourselves off from the rich and diverse tapestry of human culture, tradition and personality – and writers, readers, and stories themselves are poorer for it. For writers, this requires a constant balancing act. There will never come a point where we “get it perfectly” with no need for continued refining of our efforts. Rigorous research is the foundation of walking this tight rope. Sensitivity readers are a great resource that authors should take advantage of. It has been my experience that people want you to succeed in telling stories about their community and will usually bend over backward to help you. All of this was constantly on my mind when writing Gabriel’s Trumpet. It intimately weaves elements of African-American history and culture into its narrative. I was privileged and fortunate to work with historian Jordan O’Neal to ensure I treated these elements as accurately, clearly, and sensitively as possible. I wrestled with one other point in this regard for Gabriel’s Trumpet. One of the story’s major settings is New York City at the height of Harlem’s Renaissance. But “Harlem Renaissance” is a retronym. The period appropriate term was “The New Negro Movement.” That is a term I was uncomfortable using and ultimately elected to use the anarchistic language (I admit it didn’t hurt that “Harlem Renaissance” is so much more evocative that “The New Negro Movement.”) Does horror fiction perpetuate its own ghettoization? Perhaps. If we do, it is mostly self-imposed through behavior and attitudes that imply we deserve to be in our own dark little corner rather that bathing in the sunlight with other genre fiction. Again, we sometimes as act as if there something shameful and unseemly about what we do. Such behavior is absurd. If horror has a problem, it is that we are a prisoner of our own success. Whether you’re talking about movies, television, books, graphic novels, roleplaying, or video games; horrific elements have become so ubiquitous in genre fiction that is almost impossible to find an example completely free of our influence. Indeed, if we have a real challenge, it is how to define “pure horror” in contrast to a horror-saturated SF/F multiverse. What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off? In alphabetical order to avoid favoritism: I’ve been enjoying J. Patrick Allen’s Dead West series, both as wonderful works in their own right as well as inspiration and insight for my own newly completed Weird West novel. Recently, I was thoroughly charmed by Madeleine D’Este’s The Flower and the Serpent, a tale straddling the line between horror and supernatural mystery, set against the backdrop of a high-school production of Macbeth. While fantasy, I want to mention indie author R.J. Hanson’s Roland series. His work contains enough dark elements that I think most horror fans will be satisfied. I’ve also enjoyed Heidi J. Hetwett’s “paranormal procedural” Past Lives. With its blend of temporal investigation and supernatural overtones, it invokes a flavor very similar to that of Gabriel’s Trumpet. Back to horror, but deviating from the printed word, I am also a big fan of Ian Murphey’s gritty urban horror podcast Under the Shroud. What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author? I am a fan of the “good-bad” school of 80s and 90s films. Three films, Big Trouble in Little China, Hudson Hawk, and The Golden Child, are particularly powerful influences. I secretly believe all three of these films took place in the same universe and try to steer my fiction so it would fit seamlessly into such a world. Harry Turtledove’s alt-history and Caleb Carr’s Alienist series are my gold standard for historical fiction and the use of historical figures in fiction. A more unusual and subtle influence is YA author Daniel Pinkwater, and his stories of misfit children struggling to fit in to the banality of daily life, before being initiated into the weird and wonderful world hiding just out of plain sight. Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you? I’m still tickled pink by having my historical fantasy/pulp novel Bel Nemeton described as “Tomb Raider for intellectuals.” Also, positive feedback regarding my use of music in fiction has only further encouraged me in this direction. What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult? There are two. First, I’ve always needed to resist the temptation to indulge in massive exposition dumps at a story’s beginning. Second, I still struggle with dialogue. Only by ongoing editing can “hear” how dialogue is wrong and gradually fine-tune it to be both believable and interesting. Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? Anything involving cruelty to an animal. I just wouldn’t be able to do it. How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? Names are critical. Readers can feel if a name is right for a character and, when they’re not, it distances them from the character and the story. Names usually come pretty easily to me. When I get stuck, I will usually pull out a map (either in real life or online) and look it over until I find a community, a river, a mountain range, whatever, with a name that inspires me. Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? In recent works, I find myself gravitating more toward ensemble casts of protagonists, albeit usually still with a clear “main” character. I also tend to do more hinting rather than telling about characters’ backgrounds, except where absolutely essential to the narrative. Additionally, I feel I’ve learned how to whet a reader’s appetite by teasing information out in small bits over time. What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing? “Don’t get too hung up on making your first draft perfect, or even necessarily good. The first time around, your only job is to vomit the basic concepts up onto the page.” A close second is “The only rules in writing are the ones you haven’t gotten away with breaking yet.” For 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? Dr. Vivian Cuinnsey, the main character of the 21st century arc in my Bel Nemton series, is my favorite “child.” Her interests are pretty much identical to mine (but she is much more successful), she owns a wry wit to which I can only aspire, and, let’s face it, who doesn’t want to write the academic with a two-fisted streak? He’s not a “least favorite” but the most difficult character I’ve ever written is another historical figure appearing in Gabriel’s Trumpet, poet and author Langston Hughes. My conundrum was this: how does a writer write a better writer? For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why? That is a surprisingly tough question. Gabriel’s Trumpet is the epitome of my passion for music working its way into my writing, and many of its locations are places intimately familiar to me. But, in the end, I have to go with Bel Nemeton because it ties together so many of my interests and passions: travel, archeology, folklore, academia, linguistics, adventure, and even occasionally international cuisine. Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us? It’s funny, it’s not even a major line, but I’ve always loved the sound and imagery of one line from Bel Nemeton, “From the air, Samarkand appeared to be a place apart; a separate creation by some god whose first love was desolation.” Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next? Most recently, I completed The Clash at Crush a novel-length Wild West caper story set against the backdrop of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, with a light dusting of steampunk and weird west. I am now turning my attention to Mark of Cornwall, the third installment of the Bel Nemeton series as well as editing Overdue, an anthology of stories set in a “shared universe” joining the Bel Nemeton books with M.H. Norris’ All the Petty Myths series. Finally, I am very excited about the ambitious new series from Soteira Press, HorrorUSA, envisioning a 50-volume series, with each volume offering an anthology of horror stories set in a different American State. I have a pieces appearing in their California, Texas, and Washington anthologies and am hopeful my work may make an appearance in several other volumes as well. If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice? I’m not sure that there is truly such an animal as the irredeemable cliché. That being said, there certainly are ones that suffer from overuse and poor use. One that bugs me in particular is the (mis)use of Native Americans (and other indigenous groups) in horror: everything from the “Ancient Indian burial ground,” to the tribal legend providing exposition neatly tied-up with ribbon and bow, to the “magic minority” archetype. Again, I’m not saying that these need to be taken completely off the table. Stephen King’s Pet Sematary shows that even the “Ancient Indian Burial Ground” can be handled deftly and to great effect. The problem is that they’re usually not. These tropes have become magnets for ham-fisted plot development, lazy exposition, and (at best) questionable cultural sensitivity. The reason I’m so irked by their misuse is because I would like to use them. Especially in Cosmic Horror, in not unreasonable that phenomena have histories stretching back hundreds or thousands of years, at which point indigenous perspectives become the best lens for exposition. However, because these themes are typically handled so poorly, I tend to shy away from them lest readers get their first whiff of them and immediately set down the book. This is an ongoing internal debate, maybe someday I’ll take the risk and bite the bullet. I don’t know. What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you? I just finished Paddy Hirsch’s The Devil’s Half-Mile, a tale of murder, organized crime, and financial shenanigans set in 1799 New York City. There is a plethora of historical fiction set in 1800s New York. But stories set there in the previous century are at least two orders of magnitude less common, and The Devil’s Half-Mile ranks as a jewel among them. It does what great historical fiction must do: present believable characters which readers can connect with across the centuries while still pulling them viscerally into another time and place, and teaching them a few interesting things along the way. It’s hard for me to talk about books that disappointed me because I generally don’t let it get that far. Life is too short to read books I don’t want to. As soon as am I confident a book isn’t working for me, I put it down and try something else. What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer? I’ve always wanted to be asked “What’s the weirdest feedback you’ve ever had from a reader?” And I’ve wanted that question specifically so I could relate the following story. It’s probably bad form to make public a comment from a reader, but this one is so singular that I’ve been dying to share it. I got an email from reader upset that Bel Nemeton fudges the tenure of Gainas as Archbishop of Alexandria by a couple of years. I understand that every reader has a unique relationship with each story, but it is counterintuitive to me that someone would be okay with the whole “Arthur and Merlin were real people” premise, and all the others implausible-but-not-impossible ideas I inject into the relative tabula rasa of 6th century history, but this tiny little inaccuracy drove them sufficiently to distraction that they had to email me about it. gabriel's TRUMPET BY JON BLACK
That’s the question confronting Dr. Marcus Roads, physician and investigator for the Boston Society for Psychical Research, in this Jazz Age supernatural mystery. Gabriel Gibbs, a jazz trumpet player, was murdered in New Orleans two years ago. Now, Gabriel is back … with a gleaming silver trumpet and preternatural musical talent.
Marcus’s superiors task him with a high-stakes investigation. Is it really Gabriel? Or is someone (or something) claiming to be him? From tracing the musician’s origins in the tragic Mississippi Delta community of Pilate’s Point, Marcus follows in Gabriel’s footsteps through New Orleans and into the mysterious deep bayous. Ending in Harlem at the height of its Renaissance, Marcus searches its streets for his ultimate goal: a face-to-face encounter with the trumpeter whose life threatens to consume his Marcus’s own. The latest work by award-winning novelist and music historian Jon Black, Gabriel’s Trumpet simmers in the music and musical scene of the 1920s. Having walked in the same footsteps as his characters, Jon vividly brings to life the great locations of America’s Jazz Age, putting readers right in the action alongside Marcus as he struggles to answer two questions… Who, really, is Gabriel Gibbs? And what is the truth behind Gabriel’s Trumpet? Read an excerpt here
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