SIX QUESTIONS WITH CLAY MCLEOD CHAPMAN
Writers Talking 'Bout Writing
Clay McLeod Chapman writes books, comic books, children books, podcasts and for film and television. His most recent horror novels include WHISPER DOWN THE LAND and THE REMAKING.You can find him at www.claymcleodchapman.com.
SIX QUESTIONS
1 - Which writer who came before, do you admire the most?
I’m going to cheat, forgive me… There are a few. Katherine Dunn and her novel “Geek Love” blew me away when I was thirteen. That book cracked open a world of possibilities for me, showing the horrific can have heart. Then there’s Ai. Her poetry showed me the power of first person narrative. That you can speak directly to the reader. I loved her ability to touch such a raw nerve with so few words. She and Poe proved first person can cut through the din of third person and create a direct line between the narrator and reader.
2 - Which teacher(s) had the most profound effect on you?
Again… There were a few. Mrs. Royer, 6th grade English. She was the first person to see something I didn’t. Something left of center. She took my failing, wandering attention span and nudged me in the direction of a creative writing contest and that was that. I was now on a path of self-discovery. Then there’s Mrs. Baugher. Mr. Raimist. Mr. Moyer. Hallowed names, all of them.
These teachers, I swear… I can’t help but think of the endless stream of students they’ve maneuvered through over the years. I’m probably just a blip, but they meant so much to me. A teacher gives you a book and it changes your life. A teacher shares an author and it changes your life… It must seem so innocuous on their end, but to us on the receiving end, to me, life is irrevocably altered. These teachers deserve statues.
3 - Besides writing, what’s your favorite hobby or passion?
Reading, for sure. Movies, for sure. I’ve got two sons and they’re everything. They’ll be the death of me, but they’re worth it.
4 - What is something that those who don’t write fiction do not know or understand about it?
That’s a good question… I just asked myself: What do I understand about writing fiction? The answer I came back with is… Very little! For better or for worse, I write on a level of empathy and discovery. Which is probably why I’m not such a great writer. But if I have a kernel of a story and a voice to lead me through that story—a narrator to spin the yarn—I’ll lose myself in the telling, navigating the narrative without a map as it were, until I find myself on the other side.
It’s a counterintuitive way to write on a structural level, and it probably leads to a lot of headache and heartache, but it’s the way I’ve taught myself how to write and it’s the way I like best to tell stories… so as long as there’s someone around who wants to read it, I’ll never learn.
5 - Can you think of a key breakthrough moment in your work, for you, that you’d be willing to share?
I’m still breaking through. And failing along the way. And learning—hopefully—from a few of those failures. “Fail better,” Beckett says. If there was a key breakthrough, it might’ve been the moment I realized the stories that have the most impact on readers are the ones that have the most impact on me as a writer.
This is probably not news to anyone else, but if I write about the things that scare me the most… there’s going to be a deeper ring of truth to it, a resonance that extends to the reader. Hopefully. So… when I sit down and begin a new project, the question is no longer “how can I scare the reader,” it’s “how can I scare myself?”
6 - What’s next for you?
The pandemic proved to be a pretty fruitful time for long-in-the-tooth projects that have been in development for some time now… 2022 is going to be a bountiful year. My next novel is lurching toward its September 2022 release date.
Fingers and toes crossed. Let’s get spooky!