One of my favorite writers, whom I stumbled upon almost
accidentally at the (currently non-operational) New Absurdist, author of
Tales from the Vinegar Wasteland (rereleased by LegumeMan ),
Ray Fracalossy, allowed me to pester him with a few questions.
He answered these questions.
Then
I decided to publish the whole thing, call it an interview and post it here on
my blog.
Without further ado:
GAB: When did you start writing?
RF: I've dabbled with writing since high school, but never found my voice until
I discovered the New Absurdist website around 2003. I actually discovered the
site through a surrealist newsgroup.
GAB: Why do you write?
RF:I think I mostly write as therapy. I'm also not a writer who feels any need
to mass produce. In fact, I'm of the opinion that most people only have a
limited number of stories within them before they begin to repeat themselves. I
think that's true with most art as well.
GAB: You have expressed to me previously that you think of yourself as an
absurdist. In your mind how is absurdism different from other genres such as
surrealism, irrealism, magical realism or Bizarro?
RF:I've heard all those terms tossed around. Modern absudism is virtually
indistinguishable to surrealism and irrealism. I'm sure there may be subtle
differences, but they're all contrived.
It comes down to a preference in labeling. Magical realism is a different
beast, and I find that term a little confusing. From what I know, they share
elements, but absurdist writing is much freer. That was my initial attraction
to the genre. It can be very non-linear. There doesn't even need to be a plot,
a definite beginning or ending or any strong characterization. There can be all
those things, but it's not necessary.
Bizarro is just a catch phrase. A made up genre trying to tie all oddball
writing together under one umbrella. So I guess all absurdist fiction is
Bizarro, but not all Bizarro is absurdist. Again, lots of common elements. I'm
not a big fan of the term. It implies certain things. Bizarro seems to attract writers captivated
by disturbing images. I think a lot of Bizarro authors would be writing horror
if they didn't find that genre so over done. It's also very cultish and
kitschy, tons of pop culture references. Very B-movie influenced. I think my
main complaint with the genre is its disposition towards novels over short
stories. I love short stories. There also tends to be a lack of childlike
innocence concerning Bizarro. Often they appear to be shooting for shock value,
or a gross out.
GAB: Which other absurdists are you reading?
RF: Daniil Kharms is a must. Other old schoolers I enjoy reading include
Alexander Vvedensky and Eugene Ionesco. Barry Yourgrau is real good. His
stories are always short and in the first person. Very dreamlike. Other good
reads include Eric Chevillard and Valery Ronshin. Lewis Carroll ranks high. At
the moment I tend to be reading more nonfiction. I've always preferred it.
GAB: What non-fiction in particular?
RF: Biographies, anything regarding altered states of consciousness, texts
pertaining to the spiritual or paranormal.
GAB: Are there any Bizarro authors that you do particularly
enjoy reading?
RF: D. Harlan Wilson, Kevin Donihe, Matt Revert, Bradley Sands, Gina Ranalli.
(Although she isn't fond of the label either.) Again, my favorite stuff by them
is their short stories. I'm not up on Bizarro. Not following it, I may be
missing writers I would really enjoy. Christy Leigh Stewart is really good as
well. You can find a bunch of her short stories online (
http://christyleighstewart.com/).
Very clever stuff. I'm also a fan of your writing.
GAB: Also, you've got a
relatively unconventional view of psychopharmacology. Can you elaborate on your
views of the subject and explain how this ties in with your overall worldview,
view of the mind, writing as a therapy, etc.?
RF: Wow, heavy stuff. Like a rather large portion of the population, I've had
my own personal experiences. I'm neither for nor against dabbling with
chemically altered states. It can indeed come with a price, but life is a
series of gambles. Considering that the human population spends their sleeping
hours in a hallucinatory state, and while awake experiences everything from
memory flashbacks, daydreams, fantasies, and the countless hours we sit
hypnotized by television and music, which is another very real altered state.
People cry at movies. How weird is that? So dabbling in chemical realities is
not really all that unnatural for mankind. It's the nature of the beast.
I often feel guilty being caught in the consumers web spending money buying
books and music, material possessions, but I think we need it. We need the
Internet. We need new experiences, new sounds, new thoughts, CONSTANTLY. I
think that is the real purpose of life. Live, and send those experiences back
to the source.
Regarding writing as therapy, it's often used in psychology. Hard to say its
impact on me, as I'm restless, and tend to need a drink or something just to
sit still and focus. Most of my writing is done late at night, or semi
intoxicated.
GAB: I too love short stories and find it puzzling that in our fast-paced,
instant gratification culture that novels far outsell short fiction
collections. What's you theory about why this might be?
RF: I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's like certain movies. Lots of action,
everything is spelled out. People don't want to think too much. So a novel
paints everything out for them. But it's a lot more effort reading a novel. I'm
a horrible reader. Most novels I've read, I read in bits. I put them down and
move on to something else, and return to them much later. Reading itself can
zone you out. I can't maintain that focus. My bookshelf is full of books, all
with bookmarks stuck in them.
GAB: Do you find that films have an impact on your writing? If so, which ones
have been particularly influential upon you?
RF: The Marx Brothers movies have probably influenced me. Other than that, I
think only the approach has influenced me, meaning sometimes I'd write a scene
as if I were writing a film script. I'd see the scene in my head as if it WAS
part of a movie, and try to do it justice.
GAB: And music - you played in the band Lord John. Do you find much connection
between the composition and performance of music, and the process of writing
fiction?
RF: Only in the finalizing process. Tweaking a song is not that different than
doing editing. Similar mind set. In both cases you're looking for the
definitive final version of a piece of art. Other than that, it's apples and
oranges.
GAB: Is "Tales" the only book you've written?
GAB: Was Tales from the Vinegar Wasteland a very personal
story? It seems like there are elements of your self in it, though maybe I'm
just wishing them to be there.
RF: Stupidly so, to the point that I was certain huge amounts of it wouldn't
make sense to the general public. There were a huge amount of ‘in' jokes in it,
as well as other personal things, such as things people had told me, or odd
things customers at work would spout, and I'd scribble down.
The blue gary
apple game is an actual game my nephew created where you chase someone, and
yell, "Get back here, you Blue Gary Apple." It was too weird not to
use somehow. He was also the inspiration for the flashback where the main
character thinks back on a children's book he's read, where a boy's pillows
come to life. I used to make up stories for him about such events. There's
mention of The Jesus Lightbulb, which I thought would be a good band name. The
chapter titled "More money for paisley shirts" was an unused song
title for my ex-band The Narc Twins. Gregory has a fear of dogs, like myself.
The main character has a phobia of driving, and is extremely introverted, also
like myself. I don't think it's possible to write without throwing huge chunks
of yourself into the mix. I think those are the bits the reader enjoys the
most, because they come off as the most true. But I do wonder how much of the
obscure bits I put in there made sense to anyone at all.
I also made myself a character in the book, and it's a fairly well defined
representation of myself, seen through my own eyes.
I threw just about everything into this book, because I wasn't sure where I
stood creativity wise. I was feeling as if I'd spent my load, was insecure
about myself and the future in general, and pulled a Dylan. There's a story
where Dylan was so unsure of the future that he composed "A Hard Rain's
Gonna Fall" from the first lines of a stack of songs. I constructed
Vinegar Wasteland the same way. It's a swan song, in case I never do anything
else. It breaks the fourth wall, uses allegory, is self aware, and uses a bunch
of tricks and gimmicks to grab the reader. I threw in the proverbial kitchen
sink, thinking if this is the totality of my official output, hopefully down
the line, someone will sing its praises.
I'd also like to announce its re-release by Australian publishers
LegumeMan.
It's an honor that they found my trashy little novel worthy of a second
pressing. And many thanks to Afterbirth Books for giving me an outlet in the
first place. I'd also like to say the best thing that could possibly happen
would be if my book influenced someone who went on to have some success. Good
luck to all you odd ball writers out there. Don't lose the faith. Keep
believing and producing.
I was checking out what the fantasy and science fiction market was like, one day, when I happened upon "Seagull Girl's Butterfly Tongue" by Sara Genge in magazine. This story was not like the other stories in the magazine. It was surreal--dare I say, even a bit psychedelic. It dealt with zombies, but not like any zombies you've ever met before. The only thing I could I even think to compare this amazing writing to was the work of Kelly Link, which also subverts my expectations about zombies. 
