Shane Cartledge is another writer that
I first became aware of from working on The Bizarro Zombie Anthology
That Wouldn't Die. His story of a zombie choo-choo train was one of
the most original concepts in the book, and is indicative of his
uniquely weird outlook. Here's a bunch of stuff I asked Shane, and a
bunch of stuff he said in reply.
LW: How in the world did you get
started writing?
SC: I've always been creatively
inclined in one form or another. I grew up learning classical guitar
and piano. I reached a limit there with the skills I could learn
versus the practice and dedication to the art. Then I started playing
around with music production using some very basic programs. That was
where I started connecting with people online, and when my interest
in making music waned I turned to writing. At that point I had just
discovered H.P. Lovecraft and Palahniuk and a few other writers with
a lust for violence and madness. That fed back into my own writing.
LW: Was it always weird shit?
SC: I don't think it was always weird.
Before Bizarro I went through a lot of phases before I found my
voice. After my terrible imitating Lovecraft phase and imitating
Palahniuk I kind of got into steampunk. I read a small selection of
steampunk books and tried writing one for my first NaNoWriMo. I was
fascinated by cyberpunk and all the different offshoots of steampunk,
and shortly after, I started reading manga and watching anime, and
shortly after that, it was Bizarro.
LW: When did it turn weird, and why?
SC: A writing friend of mine came
across Carlton Mellick's short story 'Candy Coated' online on Vice.
She shared it with me knowing that I loved weird stories. I read it,
loved it, found a few Bizarro titles that I liked, looked up a ton
more, and I instantly knew that it was crazy weird and crazy fun. The
first two books I bought were Satan Burger and Lost in Cat Brain
Land. I read those in a day each and I scrambled back online for
more. The more I read, the more I shared on Facebook. Some of the
Bizarro authors I'd been reading connected with me on Facebook, and
then I thought maybe there was a future in this for me.
LW: And how did this lead to your NBAS
book?
SC: I started reading the NBAS from the
second year. I read the details online and spoke briefly with Kevin
Donihe about it. I had been working on a couple of stories and I had
done a couple of online workshops to get more involved. I was doing a
workshop with Garrett Cook which included a thorough description of
the sort of process that Kevin Shamel was looking to go through to
recruit new authors. Specifically, he wasn't after finished books,
but high concept pitches which could turn into popular books. House
Hunter was one of a whole bunch of ideas which made the cut. A lot of
the first draft of House Hunter came together during that workshop.
LW: You mention taking a couple of
workshops online. Who else did you take a class from in addition to
Garrett? What are some of the things you learned in the workshops
that you think helped you as a writer?
SC: I've taken three online workshops
all up. One with Jeremy C Shipp, one with Garrett, and one was with
Garrett and Bradley Sands. I think the biggest thing you can learn
from a workshop is that you need to put the time and effort into
writing if you want your writing to go somewhere. I feel like there's
no big secrets to being a writer, there's just learning processes.
Exercises help to motivate, and having mentors reading and commenting
on your work is good preparation for what you need to do to make your
writing stand out, and gives you some preparation for what it'll be
like when it comes time to working with an editor. Writing is a
solitary act, but when you take your manuscript to a potential
publisher, it's good to have some support already, and knowing that
finishing the manuscript is only the first step in a process that
requires a lot of hard work.
LW: So tell us about your NBAS book
House Hunter, and what it was like writing it.
SC: I feel like other bizarro authors
probably get this a lot, but when House Hunter came out, I'd tell
people it was a story set in a world where houses are living people,
and one of the first things they'd ask in response was 'where do you
come up with that?' or 'what made you think of that?' To me, these
ideas may grow subconsciously from real things, but on a conscious
level, they're born in a vacuum. I had the idea of setting an Alice
in Wonderland inspired (and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
inspired) action adventure story in that world and it came together
and I sent it to Shamel. Then came the edits. And I realised how much
work there was left to go. At the time I was finishing up my degree
and starting my honours thesis, and I think that pressure drove me
crazy but I think it was necessary to get the story over the line.
Day of the Milkman was a dream compared to that.
LW: Kevin Shamel was your editor?
SC: There were six NBAS authors and
Kevin Shamel had five of us. Kevin Donihe had Gary. Shamel was great
to work with, very supportive, great to talk to. He understood it all
because he'd been through it.
LW: You mentioned that Kevin Shamel
wasn't looking for manuscripts, but instead was looking for pitches
that could be developed. What was that process like- moving from
pitch to finished manuscript?
SC: You need to pitch the right thing
to the right people or they won't care. It's important to think of
your idea as a product, as a finished book, how it would stack up in
the current book market. If you can't do that, it'll be a struggle to
sell your book. But then you can find that pitch at any point when
writing a manuscript, so really, each to their own, I guess. I think
it is a process which helps focus your writing and gives you a
clearer target in mind. I've had a lot of pitches floating around for
a while now, and sometimes I take a few of them and blend them
together, borrow ideas from one story to another. I don't get hung up
on making this idea work if it's not coming together, and if it might
fit better in a different scenario.
LW: What effect has having a book in
the NBAS had on your life?
SC: It's opened the doorway to so many
wonderful opportunities. I've met some fantastic people, shared some
fantastic moments. Bought and read some amazing books. Got some free
books from friends. Learned so much about writing and publishing. The
NBAS feels like a faint glimmer of what your true potential can be.
It's just there waiting for you to realise that the only difference
between you and that other person is the amount of effort you put in.
It's given me the permission to be ambitious, even if I fail one day,
there's so many opportunities just waiting for people to take them.
LW: You live in Australia, but you came
all the way to Portland for BizarroCon that year. That takes a lot of
commitment.
SC: Connections and inspiration are the
main things I took away from BizarroCon. I'd have to say knowledge
was another big thing. There are so many crazy smart people there who
got to where they are because they really knew their shit. I was a
shy young author at the time, so I feel like I didn't make the most
of the opportunities I had to really get to know people and form
those stronger bonds, but years down the track, those bonds have
become stronger and the insight and information I've gained have been
a trickle-down effect. I'm constantly learning things, and it's
brilliant. I just try to tiptoe carefully through the small press
landscape, hoping I don't commit some tragic faux pas which will lead
to my immediate career suicide.
LW: Did living in Australia present any
special challenges either in the creation of your NBAS book or the
promotion? Do you feel at all cut off from the Bizarro community, and
if so, what have you done to counteract that?
SC: In the creation of the book, no.
Promotion, yes. Do I feel cut off from the Bizarro community?
Absolutely. I won't lie. It's rough. I met all these amazing people,
and I've never seen them since. Some of them I talk to all the time.
And I've made a lot of new friends since then. You talk to all sorts
of different people online, you get a feel for who you click with. I
tend to focus on that. Nurturing relationships with the right people.
There's a lot of people I'd love to know better, and I probably would
know better if I lived locally. And I'm still trying to figure out
this promotion thing. That's the hardest thing I feel, not just about
the NBAS, but about being a writer in this moment. It takes a lot of
hard work. And not only that, but you need to be intuitive, to see
the literary landscape for what it is and know how to tackle it so
that you reach your readers. I'm always trying to write new books and
trying to keep momentum going, build professional and personal
relationships, keep my mind off missing the face-to-face contact I
had at BizarroCon, and build a local presence. The hardest thing I've
found is getting out into the real world and connecting with people
in my home town. I'm getting there though.
LW: I have followed your efforts to
promote your work at large book fairs in Australia with great
interest. How did those events go for you, and do you have any ideas
for other authors who might want to try similar events?
SC: I've done one major convention, a
book launch, and a large toy/hobby fair. The convention and the fair
were tough. The convention went pretty well due to the sheer number
of people, but I feel like I'm yet to really harness the rabid nature
of that demographic and pull them into buying bizarro books. I've
been thinking about it a lot recently, how it feels less like some
guy chasing his publishing dream and more about pushing my particular
brand of fiction as a business. I think that will be the fuel that
lights my fire going forward. Definitely the best event of the bunch
was the book launch. I pulled in the right crowd, and sold more in
one evening than I did in two full days in front of thousands of
nerds, or than I do in many months of online sales. I think going
forward, my advice would be to consider yourself as a brand, know
your product and how to sell it. Keep it simple, and if there's not
enough cool stuff on your table, find out what you need to bring
people in and get it.
LW: What about life post-NBAS? What
else have you published, what's on the horizon?
SC: I've published another novella
through Bizarro Pulp Press, Day of the Milkman, which was received
quite well. I recently self-published a poetry collection, Beautiful
Madness, which has been doing awesome for me. I also had a novelette
in the Strange Edge anthology, the Four Gentlemen of the Apocalypse.
On the horizon I've got two manuscripts with two publishers at the
moment. One is a trilogy of narrative poems and the other is a
project I've been working on for the past 2-3 years. I usually
struggle to define it, but it'll be my next novella/novel, and I once
described it as 'a sprawling sci-fi/fantasy prose poem sort of thing,
set in a giant enclosed city, following a gang of cyborgs and
children as they fight lizard monsters and cosmic gods.' I think
that's the best summary I've come up with to date. It's gonna be
epic. I've also got a bunch of other projects and ideas floating
somewhere in the pipeline, and I've got plans and hopes for working
with a bunch of different publishers over the coming years, and I'm
currently trying to start my own publishing endeavour, but I'm
keeping that pretty quiet for the moment, until I'm ready to make
that move in the (hopefully) near future.
LW: What about music? Is that still a
part of your life? I took lessons briefly from my sister, who was a
piano teacher, and I'm still sorry I didn't keep up with it.
SC: I don't play much any more, but I
occasionally collaborate with musicians and I'll probably do a few
projects in the future which will find their way online. If I can get
my own piano some time in the next few years I'll probably pick back
up on my music as a hobby. I think that'd be a good thing to be able
to step away from the work of writing and the day job and the other
life-things which have been taking up so much time of my life this
year, which I know will continue well into the years to come. Life is
busy, but life is good. A piano would be a good way to soothe the
mind and break away from that hectic buzz.
LW: And now for the question I've been
waiting to ask. It's certainly the most important topic, more
important than than all this boring writing stuff. Have you ever been
attacked by a dust bunny, and if so, how did you defeat it?
SC: Are dust bunnies real? I haven't
been attacked by a dust bunny. Drop bears though... I was nine and
camping when one fell on my tent. I had to fend it off with my
emergency spoon. I think he regrets it though. He sent me a friend
request on Facebook the other day. I haven't responded yet.
LW: Really? Dust bunny attacks in the
USA are reaching epidemic proportions. Perhaps we should all move to
Australia. Those drop bears sound terrifying though. Thanks very much
for your time, Shane!
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