Author Joe R. Lansdale
Joe R. Lansdale has worked tirelessly to offer his reader’s a much needed bit of escapism through tales spun only as he could do them. Without a doubt one of the best in his in field, he has continually offered solid stories over several genres. His latest novel Devil Red, featuring the crime fighting duo of Hap and Leonard now on Knopf publishing was released on March 15, 2011. He is slated to release his take on Steve Nile’s 30 Days of Night sometime in May from IDW featuring the art of Sam Keith. Joe is also looking to began filming his third movie, Christmas With The Dead sometime this year. The zombie movie features Joe as executive producer alongside director Brian James Fitzpatrick. The script showcases the writing of Keith Lansdale with Kasey Lansdale slated to make an appearance in the film as well. For more information please see ChristmasWithTheDead.com. I recently sat down with Joe to catch up on all his latest projects.
Q: Where do you tend to draw your inspiration from?
A: There’s no one place I draw inspiration from. Life. Books. Films. It can be anything.
Q: Why do you think you have always loved Texas as much as you do? What would you say is your fondest memory of all your time there?
A: I grew up here so I know it. Sometimes it’s a love/hate relationship. I have plenty of fond memories, and too many to really list. Family are the best part of my memories.
Q: How to do you feel about your work being classified as a regional author? Why do you set so many of your stories in TX? Do you think it is important for a writer to write about an area he knows well?
A: Sometimes I am, and sometimes I’m not. I seem to be tarred with a lot of brushes, and at some point, all of them are accurate. I’ve written a lot of different things. I let others worry about the branding. I brand myself simply as Lansdale Genre.
Q: It seems that writers in the horror and science fiction genres are a rather close knit community. Do you ever worry with the passing of many of it’s greatest authors that both genres will suffer from the loss of so many creative souls?
A: Absolutely. But, there are always new authors coming up, and each generation has a group it seems. It’s odd sometimes to look back and see how everyone turned out, or didn’t. But each generation likes to find a connection. I’ve been a bit more isolated than some, as I work out of East Texas, but I certainly have a lot of friends who were starting out when I did, and many of them are still my friends. It’s sad to see us losing so many of the writers we grew up and admired.
Q: How has the publishing industry changed most over the years?
A:Books have turned into luxury items instead of cheap entertainment, which I think made the ebook an absolute. Also, it tried to become a bestseller field; a lot of the midlist and bottom list, which could, like the bestsellers be good or bad or indiferent books, has disappeared. There is less to chose from, less variety. Or was. Now with ebooks, though there is certainly even more crap, there are also more choices. Ebooks are the new paper back.
Q: When you first started your career did you ever think it would have taken you where it has? What do you think the most important thing you have learned in all your years so far?
A: I thought I would make it from the start, but I would never have believed the success and the opportunities it has given me. I felt I would probably write part time at first, then go full time, and would publish now and again, but my wife and I have been a little dizzied, not by success, which we expected, but by the degree of success in so many different writerly fields. I’m a happy and fortunate man.
Q: What was it like to work with Sam Keith? Are you a fan of his work?
A: I am a fan, and it was a delight. He’s a terrific artist. I hope we work together again.
Q: Can you tell our readers what to expect from your take on 30 Days of Night? Do enjoy writing comics?
A: I love writing comics and I love comics. I don’t read as many as I did when I was a kid, or as many as I did in the late eighties and early nineties, but I pick and choose. It’s a wonderful field, and since I learned to read through comics, I’ve always had a great attachment to them.
Q: Who would you say are some of your favorite comic authors and artists?
A: I grew up on Gardner Fox and Bill Finger, and they are still sentimental favorites. Frank Miller’s early work especially, any art by Tim Truman, who is a wonderful comic artist. I like Bruce Timm as well. So many I fear leaving someone out.
Q: What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?
A: Wow. You know what, I don’t tend to thing of any single event. It’s a process, a collection of events.
Q: Are you excited to begin filming Christmas With The Dead?
A: I am. It’s based on a story of mine, and my son has written a very fine, and funny and exciting screenplay.
Q: Do you enjoy having the chance to work with Keith and Kasey on this one?
A: Keith and I have worked together before on an anthology we edited, SON OF RETRO PULP, and he’s adapted a comic of mine and a short screenplay (unproduced) based on a story I wrote with Roy Fish. He and his sister worked with me on a story that was published many years back, when they were kids. Kasey and I have done events together, where she sings and I read or tell stories. We’ve done it many times in Italy, and in the US as well. This will be the first time she’s worked on a story of mine as an actress. I know she’ll do a great job.
Q: Why did you chose Brian James Fitzpatrick to direct this one?
A: Actually, Lee Lankford is our director. Brian and I had creative differences, which always sounds like a euphemism for we didn’t get along. But we did. I hand picked him, but we had different movies in mind. I’m very excited about Lee Lankford taking over the help, though. He and I have been friends for probably 20 years. He is a hell of a talented guy, and he has already taken the bull by the horns. I look forward to working with him. Maybe Brian and I will do something together in the futue.
Q: What can our reader’s expect from the film?
A: It’s based on the story CHRISTMAS WITH THE DEAD, which has had limited exposure, as it was a chapbook from P.S. PUBLISHING. It was just picked up for a British Best Of The Year volume. It’s a story about a man who decides to have Christmas to honor his wife. In the film he decides to do it in June. But he has pathological problems getting it done. He means someone who inspires him to grab life by the horns, and they go about trying to make Christmas. Of course, our hero has his wife in the washroom chained to the wall because she’s a zombie, and due to a freak lightning storm, those who saw it have died and come back as zombies. I think what makes it different is the zombies are a hinderence to this guy who just wants a normal life again, and he strives throughout the film to achieve it. It’s funny, exciting, and odd ball. I think Keith’s screenplay is actually better than my story that it’s based on.
Q: How did you first become an executive producer? Do you enjoy having a role in how your works on film come out?
A: I became one by default. I had been thinking about it for awhile, and even considered directing, but I didn’t want both burdens at once, the first time out. By design and greater desire, I’m a writer, and I wanted to see more of my stuff filmed. Plenty is optioned, and I’ve sold many screenplays, but only BUBBA HO-TEP and INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD have been filmed. Well, there was THE JOB and DRIVE IN DATE, but they were short films. Anyway, I decided I wanted to see something filmed, and I wanted to show what the film school here in Nacogdoches can do. A lot of people don’t know we have a film school at STEPHEN F. AUSTIN UNIVERSITY, but we do, thanks to Bill Arscott who created and runs that department. We’re combining their knowledge with a bit of outside know how to do what I think is going to draw some attention to the school, where I teach writing courses from time to time.
Q: When do you think the movie will be finished and available to the public?
A: It will probably show next April at a local screening, but the actual release date is hopefully for Christmas of 2012.
Q: Do you enjoy being able to craft worlds out of word that offer a little escapism to your readers? Do you feel a escapism is a very neccesary coping mechanism in today’s modern world?
A: I do enjoying just that, but I think sometimes it isn’t so much about escapism as it’s about connecting with reality as well. Somethings I’ve done are just entertainment, others cover a bit of ground, social issues, personal relationships. I like to think my work is entertaining, but I also like to think entertainment can give people something to think about a lot of the time without anyone even knowing it; at least not right up front.
Q: What was the best advice anyone ever gave you?
A: Look both ways before crossing the street.
Q: What other projects are you currently working on?
A: I’m writing a novel titled EDGE OF DARK WATER for my new publisher, MULHOLLAND BOOKS, a devision of LITTLE BROWN. I’m excited to be with that company, and I’m excited to be writing this book, which is challenging.