William Harms

This certainly made my day: Impaler has been nominated for the International Horror Guild Award in the Illustrated Narrative category. The winners will be announced November 1 at the World Fantasy Convention. These awards are a pretty big deal, so I spent the better part of the day bouncing off the walls.  

If you’d like to know more about the IHG, head over to the official site.

There are two authors that have had the most significant influence on me. The first is Stephen King, primarily because his novels and short stories fired up my imagination when I was younger and got me interested in both reading, and eventually, writing.

The second is Cormac McCarthy. I discovered him when I was in grad school, a couple of years after All the Pretty Horses came out. I really enjoyed Horses, but it was Blood Meridian, Outer Dark and Child of God that really made me a huge fan. The sheer amount of meaning and depth that McCarthy can pack into a single line of dialogue is astonishing, and that’s something I always think about while I’m writing.

So I was pretty damn thrilled when he sat down with Oprah and discussed The Road. This is the first interview of this kind that McCarthy has ever done, so it’s a real treat.

One of the things that fascinates me about writing is where it all comes from. Not ideas–those are easy to come up with, at least for me–but the actual words. Last night I was working on a future issue of Impaler, and there’s a scene where Victor is talking to another cop named Albert. They’re just shooting the breeze, waiting for the vampires to show up, and the two of them start talking about why they became cops. It wasn’t at all what I intended for the scene, but I figured what the hell, I’ll ride it out and see where it goes.

Next thing I know, Albert is talking about how this drugged out loser killed his dad. Shot him 10 times. But when the killer fled the scene, he tripped on the curb and was hit by a car. The accident broke the guy’s back in three places and paralyzed him from the chest down, which means no electric chair. And that didn’t sit right with Albert, so he calls in some favors, goes to where the guy is being held, throws a plastic bag over his head and that’s that.

As I’m writing this all out, part of me is wondering why Albert is telling this to Victor. And I start to think that Victor is going to be horrified by what he has just heard. After all, he’s a lifelong cop and believes in truth and justice. So I get to Victor’s dialogue, and I start to write that. But then Victor speaks up and says, “Hold on there, buddy.”

Victor isn’t horrified by what he has just heard. Instead of what I thought he was going to say, this came out:

PANEL 3: Tight on Albert.

ALBERT: Got him alone in one of the day rooms. Wrapped a plastic bag around his head and that was that. Official report said it was an aneurism.

ALBERT: He had a long history of health problems. No one gave a shit.

PANEL 4: Tight on Victor. He’s gesturing his agreement.

VICTOR: My wife died awhile back from cancer. Before she got sick, this job meant everything to me. You know, the idea that I was doing right by the world. Helping people, making a difference.

VICTOR: Then after she passed away, I realized that we’re nothing but shovels, and it’s our job is to scoop up the shit and toss it in a hole. 

One minute none of that was there, and the next it was. And to me, that’s the real joy of writing. When things come out of the blue and push their way into your story, whether you like it or not.

A week or so ago, British author Jim Crace was in town to promote his new book, The Pesthouse. The event was held at the lovely Seattle Public Library, and for 90 minutes, Crace spoke at length about his work, how he approaches storytelling, etc. It was a wonderful experience, especially since I’m such a fan of his work.

Toward the end of the talk, right before he started signing, he told us about how a mistake on his contract for The Pesthouse resulted in a “book” called Useless America. A book that doesn’t exist, but nonetheless ended up listed on Amazon UK. (If you’d like to read more about this, head over to his site.) To help promote his tour, his publisher printed up 75 copies of Useless America, which is totally blank except for a short introduction, and Crace gave away one copy at each event. My wife Cindy won the copy given away in Seattle, and it’s pretty hilarious. There are page numbers, chapter breaks, and even a note about the typeface.

On one hand, as a book collector, it’s a pretty sweet thing to own. On the other hand, it’s kind of scary how an error on a contract resulted in Amazon listing a book that will never exist. Such is life in our wired world, I suppose.

I recently had the good fortune of speaking with Miguel Rodrigues of Indie Comic News. (He even managed to dig up some info on my earliest comic book work, which for good reason shall remain buried away for all time.)

 To listen, simply follow this link.