Withersin’s Damned Interview with:
Eric Del Carlo
A writer of
the whatever-sticks-to-the-wall school of literary predisposition. I love speculative
fiction, fantasy, horror and what comes out of the pot when these are brought
to a rolling boil. Fiction must have
heart, and I hold myself and everyone else to that standard.
List published works:
Wartorn:
Resurrection and Wartorn:
Obliteration, non-humorous fantasy novels written with Robert Asprin. My short
fiction has appeared over the years in Talebones, Happy, Figment, After Hours, various Circlet Press anthologies and other
publications. A novella of mine will be
out later this year from
List website:
Ain’t got one.
How can we contact you?
Séance or
skywriting. But I will put up a website before the year
is out.
In your own words, define
Withersin.
My
understanding is that it is a publication of some sort. A fine one, I’m sure. [Lordy, I hope these folk have a sense
of humor.]
If you were a sideshow act,
what would you be?
[Apparently
they do.]
What is your greatest
non-literary influence?
Bob
Dylan. Songs like “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”, “Visions of Joahanna”,
“Jokerman” and “Ain’t Talkin’” are jolts of creative adrenaline to anyone with a
love of words.
Describe your most
irrational fear.
Locking myself out of my home. [Or
that’s the most reasonable and practical fear ever.]
How about your
most guilty pleasure?
I’m
afraid I am not sufficiently Catholic to feel guilt over my pleasures.
Name the most disturbing
nursery rhyme/fairy tale you can recall.
Isn’t
“Ring around the Rosie’s” supposedly Black Death themed singsong a gimme for this category?
Do you eat meat?
Yes.
What were the skies like
when you were young?
Wind-blown
slate grey, tuned to
Name your favorite garden
tool.
[I get
it now. This is quirky.]
Name your least favorite
color, first job and worst job.
Puce (strictly because of the sound of the word), clerk,
busboy.
Favorite: Author,
Movie, Music Group, Song, and Quote.
Harlan
Ellison, O Lucky Man!, The Boomtown Rats, “Under
Pressure” by Queen
and David Bowie,
“Moe is their leader.” (Homer Simpson’s profound observation regarding the Three Stooges.)
If you were a loaf of bread
what kind would you be?
[Gosh, I
don’t want to get this one wrong…]
Weirdest news you have read
in your local newspaper:
Not
to be snarky but I’ve honestly never looked at my
local paper.
Why horror?
Because taffeta wrinkles so easily.
Here's a photo. (seen on Interview main
page)
“INEDIBLE NOT INTENDED FOR HUMAN FOOD”
You have 112 words. Go.
It’s a
tease. They roll the trucks past our
compound, spaced at appetite specific intervals, when everybody inside the wire
is screaming from hunger. They like our
vehicles, like the coughing exhaust, the thrum of tires on pavement. How crude it must be to them, how
childish—like playing with your kids’ toys on Christmas morning. The trucks look like the trucks they deliver
our slop in, and when they come into view, it’s riot
time. Scabby fingers wind themselves
into the chain-link, bony limbs stir. A
great chalky cry goes up. Then the truck
makes the curve, and we see what’s stenciled on the ass of it. Heartbreak overwhelms hunger, briefly.
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