Withersin’s Damned Interview with:

Alasdair Stuart

I was born on the Isle of Man which some have described as the halfway point between England and Ireland and others, perhaps unfairly, have described as 20,000 alcoholics clinging to a rock. It’s a wonderful and incredibly odd place to grow up and it’s given me a slightly skewed viewpoint that I find incredibly useful.

I moved to England twelve years ago to go to University and haven’t gone back, despite feeling the pull. Since then I’ve been a bouncer, a kitchen hand, a comic store manager and finally a professional writer and journalist. At some point I’d like to learn both Capoiera and ballroom dancing although I suspect the two don’t mix.

List published works:

‘Alsiso’, published in The Alsisio Project by Elastic Press and co-winner (With the other twenty three authors) of a British Fantasy Society Award.

‘Lorna’ published on www.pseudopod.org

‘Connected’ published in Hub Magazine issue one and recommended for a British Fantasy Society Award.

I’ve also worked extensively for the regional press in my area, regularly review old TV shows for SciFi Now, anime for Neo Magazine, and have written for four roleplaying companies. Oddly, one of my proudest achievements to date was basing one of the NPCs I created for Old Kingdom Games’ Libellus Ultra series on my Dad. For the record he’s not an unusually competent, pacifistic bounty hunter, at least, not that I know of…

List website:

The closest I have to one is www.hub-mag.co.uk, a weekly fiction and some review pdf I co-edit with Lee Harris.

How can we contact you?

This email address is perpetually checked: als@therighthand.co.uk

In your own words, define Withersin.

A sideways look at the darker aspects of fiction and life, a different perspective in a crowded genre and one that illuminates the most interesting aspects of that genre with startling clarity.

If you were a sideshow act, what would you be?

A magician. I’m actually a semi professional stage magician anyway and the idea of the red lined cape, top hat, conveniently located bunnies and slight hint of danger has always appealed to me.

What is your greatest non-literary influence?

Henry Rollins. I hit a couple of pretty serious roadblocks in my late teens and Rollins’ spoken word stuff, both horrific and extremely funny, really helped me get through it. Plus, it helped to know that it was possible to be a physically big guy but still be respected for your brain.

Describe your most irrational fear.

I’m actually pretty brave these days considering that spiders, darkness, spiders in darkness, burglars and nuclear war have all been at the top of the list over the years (Nothing focuses the mind quite like being told that there are so many nuclear missiles in the world that one is aimed at the tiny little airport eight miles away from your house).

Now, oddly, my most irrational fear is having my beliefs confirmed. I’ve lived in York, one of the most haunted cities in the world apparently, for twelve years and have had only one experience that could be described as unusual. I know people who’ve had far more definitive, infinitely more traumatic experiences and that’s something I’d really like to avoid.

How about your most guilty pleasure?

I have a few. As well as my horrific sweet tooth I have a deep, abiding love of ‘50s science fiction movies. The Day The Earth Caught Fire, Quatermass, X The Unknown. Nothing is quite as reassuring as stern men of science pushing back the frontiers of human knowledge and discovering the icky things that lie beyond them.

Name the most disturbing nursery rhyme/fairy tale you can recall.

Hans Christian Anderson’s story about the Christmas Tree is pretty disturbing. Christmas cheer and mortality all in one handy package.

Do you eat meat?

Technically yes, but as I’m married to a Vegetarian and fundamentally lazy when it comes to cooking, basically I’m Vegetarian too.

What were the skies like when you were young?

Huge and filled with clouds and gales. I remember, my last six months on the island, watching a thunder storm break over Castletown bay and lightning so intense it arced BETWEEN the clouds.

Name your favorite garden tool.

I like shovels.

Name your least favorite color, first job and worst job.

Beige, working in a bookshop and spending a summer working in my University kitchens. The highlights of which were spending an entire afternoon on the ‘Deep Clean’, a double depth sink filled with industrial strength bleach and hot water, scrubbing the cooking trays. Being able to remove the entire top layer of skin from my forearms after that was a memorable experience for all the wrong reasons.

Favorite:  Author, Movie, Music Group, Song, and Quote.

Author varies but right now, probably Iain Banks or Warren Ellis. Likewise movie changes wildly but right now it’s a toss up between Little Miss Sunshine and Sneakers. Musically I’m really enjoying Mark Ronson’s ‘Version’ at the moment, favourite song would be ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ by U2 and favourite quote would be either of these:

‘There’s a war going on out there old friend, a world war. And it isn’t about who has the most bullets. It’s about who controls the information.’

‘The fairest thing we can ever experience is the unknown.’

-Sir Ben Kingsley in SNEAKERS and Einstein respectively.

If you were a loaf of bread what kind would you be?

Ciabatta.

Weirdest news you have read in your local newspaper:

Kit Kat sparks riot. Woman injured.

Why horror?

Because horror makes you look at things differently. It shows you where your limits are and pushes you past them. And because, fundamentally, we like being scared.

Here's a photo. (seen on Interview main page)

“INEDIBLE NOT INTENDED FOR HUMAN FOOD”

You have 112 words. Go.

I hate Moira. Years of campaigning, years of research, years of standing on street corners yelling it’s all true! Hollywood is preparing us for when they land! Look at the secret messages in Close Encounters!

And then Moira gets that look on her face and points out that they don’t do UFO movies anymore, just zombie movies. Which of course, interests me enough to start digging. Which leads to the shipping firms, the realization that the Government owns almost all of Kentucky and getting arrested. They gave us a choice; drive the zombie chow or be the zombie chow. Moira called their bluff. I signed on. Still, at least I get dental.

HOME GUIDELINES SUBSCRIBE ABOUT NEWS INTERVIEW