Overlords fans, as promised here's the very first horror writer to visit our blog. Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Gary Frank. Gary and I met several years ago at NECON, a horror writers convention that's held at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI every July. We both clicked after meeting each other, with our love for sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and The Beatles helping us form an instant bond. We both enjoy hanging out on the quad, enjoying a "few" cold ones, saugies, and interacting with our fellow NECON campers. Gary was also kind enough to be a host for one of my stops on my Overlords Blog Tour. OK, enough with the introductions! Here are a few things you need to know about Gary:
Mike:
Hi, Gary.
I’m very excited to present the very first horror writer to my Overlords
fan base. We’re going to do an old
fashioned interview, ok? With that said,
here we go!
Mike: Gary, please introduce yourself to my
Overlords fans with a little information about you and where you’re from.
Gary: Hey, Mike. Thanks for the interview! Well,
I've been breathing for over 40 years and writing for over 30 and have two
published novels from Medallion Press. I come up with short stories every now
and then, dabble in poetry, but mainly stick to writing novels. I currently
live in north New Jersey, but I come from Flushing, Queens, New York.
Mike: What are you working on
these days and what’s the current status of that project?
Gary: I had been full throttle on a complicated
ghost story called Passing Strangers for most of the summer, getting about
45,000 words down and then abruptly stopped. I’m looking at that book again and
also a novel based on ancient China, tentatively titled City of the Pearl Dawn.
Mike: All your work is predominately horror. What drew you to that genre?
Gary: I really loved Robert McCammon's Stinger and
Usher's Passing and early Dean Koontz like Phantoms. I had actually started
writing science fiction and fantasy, but was always attracted to the
supernatural. For a while I was writing short stories in all three genres, but
around 2002, I took my fiction novel, Insert Title Here, that hadn't found a
home and decided to make the antagonist "something other than human"
and Forever Will You Suffer was born. Three years later I sold it to Medallion
and I just stayed in horror because it's a much more emotional genre than
science fiction or fantasy and that makes it more interesting to explore.
Mike:
Have you created any characters that have
truly scared you? If so, which ones?
Gary: None that have scared me, but a number of
people who read Institutional Memory (my second novel that takes place in a
possessed corporate office building) have told me they no longer work overtime
in their office by themselves.
Mike: For those of you who don’t
know, I met Gary at NECON several years ago and found that he’s also an
accomplished musician. Did you ever have
any plans to connect with Paul McCartney and hit the road as a rocker???
Gary: Funny you should mention Sir Paul. I had been
taking lessons from a South American guitar teacher who was teaching me Spanish
guitar and as a 12-year-old boy, all I wanted to learn was rock. The day I
brought the sheet music to Yesterday to her was the beginning of the end of our
time together. I have played at local cafes, but never hooked up with the right
people to really get into the band/bar scene.
Mike:
What makes Gary Frank
tick?
Gary: I have a clock similar to Flava Flav's that I
wear inside my chest.
Mike: Any upcoming projects we should now about?
Gary: Necon E-Books will be bringing Forever Will
You Suffer and Institutional Memory out as eBooks soon. Institutional Memory
will hopefully be sometime in November or December and Forever Will You Suffer
will most likely be in early 2014. I have a short story, Devil Women From Mars
coming out in Michael Knost’s Red-Neck Zombies From Outer Space anthology. I’m
not sure exactly when that’s coming out, so we’ll call it sooner than later!
And of course, the two novels.
Mike: Care to talk about your radio show?
Gary: Ah yes, the radio show. The Rock Labyrinth.
40+ year of classic and modern metal, prog, alternative and good, solid rock.
The music runs the gamut from King Crimson, ELP and Rush to Metallica, Priest,
Sabbath and Maiden to Shinedown, Evanescence, Black Tea House and Lilly Rouge
to Dream Theater, Pinnacle and Spock’s Beard to The Cure, Bauhaus and Sisters
of Mercy. Something for everyone! The show is every Monday night at 9pm eastern
US time at www.shmusicmedia.com.
Mike:
OK, time for some quick ones, ready? Favorite movie?
Gary: Star Wars
Mike:
Favorite food or dish to make?
Gary: One of my recipes: Tortellini with ground
turkey, onions and peppers.
Mike:
Favorite place you have ever visited?
Gary: One place? How about a few: Beijing, Hawaii,
Cape Cod, Arizona, Colorado
Mike: Favorite music band?
Gary: The Beatles
Mike: Favorite book, and no it can’t be one of
yours!
Gary: No way I can do one book! The Affinity Bridge
by George Mann, Peaceable Kingdom by Jack Ketchum, The Illustrated Man by Ray
Bradbury, Stinger by Robert McCammon, The Greyfriar by Clay & Susan
Griffiths, Mr. Hands by Gary Braunbeck and several dozen more I can’t think of!
Mike: Gary, thanks for being a good sport! Is there anything you would like to leave my
fans with?
Gary: Thanks again for interviewing me. Look for
Forever Will You Suffer and Institutional Memory coming out in the next few
months from Necon E-Books. Dark Territories is an anthology I co-edited with
Mary Sangiovanni and is available through Amazon. Drop by www.shmusicmedia.com on Monday nights at 9pm
(eastern US time) for The Rock Labyrinth. I’m on Facebook if you want to say
hello. I’ve got a blog called Writing
Through Hell and my website is www.authorgaryfrank.com! Lastly, keep an eye out
for news in 2014 about the new books.
Gary, it's been my pleasure having you here to day. Here are links to Gary's books -- be sure to pick up a copy or two, they make excellent reads as well as awesome Christmas gifts!
Unfortunately, both books are out of print, but are
available through Amazon’s marketplace. Here are the links to the books:
