Withersin’s Damned Interview with:
Paul L. Bates
My
father was a hero of sorts in the ETO of WW2, my mother an army nurse in the
same conflict. Their world of two dimensional rules, rank, spin and
denial left me at continual odds with them. The upside was we moved
around a lot; I got to see that most people everywhere were basically grouchy
sleep walkers; and the notion of reinventing myself every year or so as
required became totally ingrained. I think my mother seriously debated
between drowning me in the bath tub and sending me off to school in order to be
rid of me. Fortunately I wound up with the education. Early on I
discovered a proclivity for writing, won some poetry contests in several school
literary magazines. Somehow I was coerced into studying architecture—something
I absolutely abhorred--but also something which I eventually parlayed into a
profession of sorts in the construction industry, wearing an assortment of hats
as the opportunities presented themselves.
Then,
in the blink of an eye I saw an old man staring quizzically back at me in the
mirror--quite the dramatic spur for shaking off the lethargy of the decades—and
now I’m hoping to finally get on with it.
List published works:
Bibliography (since 1996)
“For A Feeling” May/June ‘96 Calliope #60 (Mensa)
“The Maze” August ‘96 The Sixth Sense, Vol. 1, #3
“Kindred” Sept/Oct ‘96 Calliope #62
“If 6 be 9” (poem) Sept/Oct ‘96 Calliope #62
“Kindred” March ‘97 Strange Wonderland #1 **
“Charade” April ‘97 The DarkLands Project #1
“The
“There’s Always Someone” June ‘97 Star Anthology #1
“The Last Assassin” July ‘97 The DarkLands Project #2
“Queen of the Deep Earth” Nov ‘97 The Fifth Di-- Vol. 3, #5
“The Thing Inside the Mirror” March ‘98 The DarkLands Project #4
“The Scapegoat” March ‘98 Millennium Magazine
“For a Feeling” May ‘98 Millennium Magazine
“The Open Door” July/Aug ‘98 Literal Latte, Vol. 4, #5
“The Dreamcaster of Ith” Aug ‘98 Indigenous Fiction #1
“The Envoy’s Lament” Fall ‘98 Lynx Eye, Vol. 5, #4
“Flies” April ‘99 The Reaper #1
“On the Road to Balenbahd” 1999 Antho Decisions! Decisions! (Chrysalis Reader)
“Masks” Spring 2000 Parsec, Vol. 3, #5 **
“Madhouse” Summer ‘00 Fantasque #5
“Voices on the Wind” Autumn ‘00 Fantasque #6
“Tuesday’s Are Green” 2000 Antho TransVersions **
“To Dream of Ith” Spring ‘01 Kinships #1
“Skin” 2002 Fantasque 2002
“The Wolf God” 2002 Antho Beyond the Last Star
“Zee” Oct 2002 Thirteen Stories #2 **
“The Spider” Autumn ‘02 City Slab #1
“River at the End of the World” Nov/Dec ’03 Thirteen Stories #13 **
“The Town Crier” Dec ‘04 Underworlds #2 (published
but never marketed due to libel issues)
“Beneath the Surface” Dec ‘04 Fantasque 2004
"Bataka and His Shadow” Feb ‘05 Zahir # 6
"Lost" May 2005 Here & Now #5/6 *
Imprint HB (novel) July 2005 Five Star SF/F (Thomson Gale)
"Survivor" 2005 Antho Dream the Dark Majestic
"Why No One Noticed" 2005 Antho Trip the Light Horrific
"Miscalculations" 2005 Antho Travel a Time Historic
Imprint TP (novel) July 2006 Five Star SF/F (Thomson Gale)
"Komehotum's Sad Departure" Winter 2006 Kinships #6
Pending 2007 & beyond
"No Second Chance" Sept 2007 Antho New Writings in the Fantastic *
"The Haunting of 5 Black Dog Lane" (memoir) Summer 2007 Withersin Magazine, Vol. 1, #2
"Prey" Autumn '07 (Antho) Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic
"Exile" 2008? Dark Wisdom ("by issue 17")
Dreamer HB (novel) March 2008 Five Star SF/F (Thomson Gale)
Note: All items are short fiction unless otherwise noted
All
items published in the
* published in the
** published in
HB (hardback)
TP (trade paperback)
List website:
A bit beyond both my computer skills and budget at the
moment.
In your own words, define Withersin.
A
bold experiment, filled with youthful exuberance and energetic dedication that I
fervently hope succeeds.
If you were a sideshow act, what would you be?
A pickpocket in the crowd.
What is your greatest non-literary influence?
My
next door neighbor while in high school, a CIA analyst who encouraged and
critiqued my writing.
Describe your most irrational fear.
Remaining
stuck on this world indefinitely.
How about your most guilty
pleasure?
Gulab Jamun.
Name the most disturbing nursery rhyme/fairy tale you can
recall.
I
don’t remember the name of it as I was quite young when I heard it. It
involved three brothers questing after something or other, the elder two of
whom got themselves turned into stone for their avarice.
Do you eat
meat?
Sparingly.
What were the skies like when you were young?
Beckoning.
Name your favorite garden tool.
The hammock.
Name your least favorite color, first job and worst job.
Favorite: Author, Movie, Music Group, Song, and
Quote.
Lovecraft/Borges/Kafka; Last year at Marienbad/Local
Hero; Cranes; Wish; “Hey, shit for brains, wake up.”
If you were a
loaf of bread what kind would you be?
Aloo Nan.
Weirdest news you have read in your local newspaper:
Anything to do with the Haircuts debating during an
election year.
Why horror?
I
have this compulsion to hold up a mirror….
Here's a photo. (seen on Interview main
page)
“INEDIBLE NOT INTENDED FOR HUMAN FOOD”
You have 112 words. Go.
California Wines have
found a new market in the wilds of