Interview with Guy Anthony De Marco

Welcome to another author interview. Our apologies that these things haven’t been appearing as regularly as we’d like, but given certain restraints on our time recently, we’ve had to choose between delivering great fiction or doing author interviews. And that’s not really much of a choice.

However, things have straightened out a bit, and we’re back on track. So without further ado:

January’s most read author was Guy Anthony De Marco for his story, “Steaks”. In addition to receiving high praise from our readers, Guy’s story read like a punch in the gut. It’s tough to write in the Micro Fiction range, but the shortness of Guy’s piece makes it all the sweeter.

EDF: What should people expect when they see a story with your byline under it?

GAD: I would hope they’d expect an enjoyable story, with a wicked twist or an oddball horror angle. I do my best to drop hints throughout the story (including the title), even if it’s a micro-flash.

EDF: Your story “Steaks” obviously struck a chord with our readers. How did you get the idea for it?

GAD: One of my friends worked as a meat cutter for over twenty years. I wanted to write a couple of horror stories with a deranged butcher, and Steaks was the first one that came along. I like writing micro-flash fiction because it forces me to pay attention to what words I select to tell a complete story. I think Steaks was popular because it was an unexpected quick jab to the gut.

EDF: Do you frequently write horror? What attracts you to that genre?

GAD: Most of my published stories are horror-based, but even the science fiction and fantasy shorts have a dab of horror thrown in. To me, sci-fi and fantasy are more cerebral, where horror is emotion and instinct. People love horror stories because they dredge up some primal fears, and they enjoy the rush of adrenaline. I enjoy putting my characters and readers into situations where they are shocked or surprised, and horror is the best genre to accomplish this.

EDF: Do you have any current projects you’d like to talk about?

GAD: I am writing a low-budget horror script for a friend to produce and a couple of on-spec stories about local ghost towns in Colorado. I’m also training my mutant pet catfish to search for sunken treasure (see attached picture.)

EDF: What has been your best moment as a writer so far? Your worst?

GAD: My best moment is actually a two-parter — my first professional sale and qualifying for the Horror Writers Association. My worst moment is losing over fifty short stories due to a hard drive crash on my laptop with no backups. Some may say that rejections from editors are bad, but I look at them as challenges to improve a story.

EDF: Where and when do you write? What music or other background noise do you prefer, or silence? And does the physical / background environment influence or affect your writing?

GAD: I tend to write at night, between 10 pm to 2am, when I have few distractions. When I’m working on dialogue, I get a table at a coffee shop or a busy fast-food restaurant and eavesdrop. Music is fine, as long as it doesn’t have a distracting drumline – I play drums, and it’s hard to write when you’re tapping out Neil Peart’s drum solo from Rush’s Tom Sawyer. One thing I avoid is visual stimulation, including television. I want to put original images into my stories, and not images based off of other people’s work.

EDF: What is next for you as a writer?

GAD: Eventually I will finish and market one of my novels, but I have a lot of short stories brewing in my brain. I’d like to break into one of the “big” SF or horror print magazines, which is one of my goals for 2009.

EDF: Thank you for your time.

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