You may have heard of Joe R. Lansdale. The genius behind the Hap Collins and Leonard Pine mystery series is also the prolific author over a dozen novels, including the Edgar Award winning novel "The Bottoms". But classifying Lansdale as a mystery author leaves out much of his work, such as "Bubba Ho-Tep", a comedy-horror story featuring Elvis Presley and JFK in a fight for their lives against an Egyptian Mummy. Below is our interview with the man Bruce Coville once said has "one of the weirdest minds in America."
JAKE Magazine: I first came across you in two of Bruce Coville's short-story anthologies, and I'm still in love with and creeped out by "The Fat Man". But these anthologies were targeted at younger readers, while many of your novels are definitely for mature audiences. When you sit down to write short stories, do you have a specific audience in mind, or is the audience a consideration only when you've finished?
Joe R. Lansdale: What often happens is I'm asked for a story, and I write it with that market in mind, but I always try to make it something that appeals to me and is not market specific. Now and again I write a story on spec, though less and less of that over the years. I have a couple of stories in mind right now, but I haven't had time to sit down and do them. As for the Fat Man, I'm currently adapting that one to a short film script with my friend Neal Barrett, Jr. I'll let you know how that goes. Mostly, the audience I have in mind is me.
JM: Speaking of film-adaptations, there's a lot of speculation about a possible sequel to "Bubba Ho-Tep". Are you working on such a project? What was it like to collaborate with Don Coscarelli on the original?
JRL: A Bubba sequel has been talked about. I have mixed feelings about the idea, but it could happen, and I would probably be involved.
JM: When did you begin writing seriously? Was it with the intent of publication or because you felt compelled to get things doen on paper?
JRL: When I was nine I started writing because I had to, and I wrote off and on for years, and finally, in 1973, I sold my first piece, a collaboration with my mother, written under her name for Farm Journal. It one a small prize. I started off good. Wrote several articles thereafter, sold them all. Mind seventies I decided to try to work regularly, and go for it. It took me two years to sell fiction, which after selling so much non-fiction easily, surprised me. But, by 1981 I was full time and have been ever since.
JM: It seems like there's a lot of frustration about the market for short-stories, especially when someone is just starting out and trying to break in to the field. Do you think the market has changed much since you began, or is it a question of knowing where to look and how to submit the right piece?
JRL: There are more short story markets than people think, if your interests are broad. If you only want to write a certain kind of story, you might be limited. WRITERS' MARKET is still the best vehicle for selling your own work. I did this for years, used it as an agent. Still, I do believe there are fewer than there once were, and at the time I began writing, writers were bemoaning how few markets there were. There are a lot of small press and out of the way markets that people don't think about. Again, keep eyes and ears open, and get hold of WRITER'S MARKET, which is a big book that comes out once a year with all kinds of markets in it.
JM: One of my favorite features of your website is the weekly short-story. How do you think the internet changes the way you interact with audiences and showcase your own work?
JRL: The internet has exposed a lot of people to my work that otherwise might not have known about it. So it's been wonderful. There are drawbacks as well, but mostly it's been good for me. Having a great guy like Lou Bank running the site is the most important thing. He knows what he's doing, and he's the best.
JM: When you began writing did you set out to write a novel, or did you start with shorter work?
JRL: I wrote novels when I was a kid, but I could never finish them. I decided to try short stories, and discovered I loved them far more than I realized. They are still my favorite. I worked from short stories to longer short stories to novels.
JM: Fans of your work will probably know about your involvement in the martial arts, especially your creation of the Shen Chuan style of fighting. How does the discipline from one art transfer to another? Did you see any relationship between your progress as a writer and as a student of the martial arts?
JRL: I find martial arts and writing very similar. Both require economy of motion, discipline, focus, and a certain aptitude. As you get older, both change, and you have to change with them. Writing is far more flexible, and has a long career arc.
JM: When you wrote "Savage Season", was it with the intention of starting a series about Hap and Leonard? The characters are so well-fleshed out it's hard to imagine you didn't plan on taking them further, but did you know where future books would lead?
JRL: I really had no plans to write a series. But the characters were so fully formed, I couldn't stop thinking about them. About three years later, I wrote MUCHO MOJO. I haven't written about them in a few years now, but I'm starting to get hungry to do it.
JM: It seems like every generation yields some kind of 'writer's group', for lack of a better word. I don't know if you'd call it a movement, but right now the hot property is Dave Eggers and the writers at McSweeney's and The Believer Magazine. Do you think this is ultimately good for publishing, in that if a reader likes one of these writers they'll probably go on to read another? Or do you think it makes things harder for writers outside the 'group'?
JRL: It does seem every generation has it's group. Or groups. I think it's healthy to have new blood. I think sometimes you can become part of serveral groups. It happens. I try to just do my own work and not worry about it. I think the idea is exciting to a lot of young or new writers, and that's good. It's fuel for the engine. But too much identification with a group causes you to start writing or thinking a certain way. And that's not good.
JM: Who are your favorite living authors? Do you find their work influences your own?
JRL: William Goldman, Andrew Vachss, Neal Barrett, Jr., James Lee Burke jump to mind, but I know there are plenty of others. Ray Bradbury, primarily for his early and middle period work. It seems a lot of the writers I like are, gulp, dead.
JM: I had the chance to see Bradbury speak a couple years ago when he visited Butler University. Healthwise he wasn't doing too well and spoke from a wheelchair, but I was surprised by how engaged and lively he was as a speaker. He talked a lot about writing as a catharsis, and how it can keep your mind healthy in bad situations. Have you had an experience where writing allowed you to deal with a difficult situation, or even where it simply kept your mind sharp?
JRL: I always admired Bradbury's energy and love of what he does. I share that. I think writing has many times helped me deal with bad situations, or stressful situations. No doubt about it. I think it does keep the mind sharper. Reading is also helpful in a similar way. But creating something, that's the best.
JM: When does a writer need to start worrying about agents? Could you explain a little about how to find one, and what they do?
JRL: Selling your own work first is best, and short stories are not agent meat. Sell your work, then look for agents to further your career. You can find out about them by looking up agents on the internet, and there used to be lists of agents in writer's market. I've had several over the years. I've fired some, one died, and another retired. I also have film agents and foreign agents.
JM: It seems like the horror genre (and even Westerns, to some degree) are frequently labeled trash, until someone comes along and impresses the critics. Right now it seems to be zombie stories that are getting accolades, with movies like "28 Days Later" and "Shaun of the Dead", and comics like "The Walking Dead." Before your name was really known, did you run into a genre-barrier? Did you ever have an editor say, "We really like your writing, but couldn't you do something more mainstream?"
JRL: Yes, I had some resistence, but genres are more popular than any kind of entertainment. I was accused of being too good a writer, which is weird. I like to think I love all kinds of writing, but a good story is a good story, and I'm a storyteller more than a plotter. I'm not sure what that fits, but plenty of literature was first and foremost storytelling. Mark Twain comes to mind.
JM: Regarding genre (again), to what extent should beginning writers be conscious of what they're writing? Is it worth putting off a zombie-project so you can write something 'literary'?
JRL: Nothing wrong with being conscious of what you're doing, but if you spend all your time trying to fit a certain type of writing, or a certain market, then you can lose yourself. You have to write what you like. Enough zombies, already, but...If you've got a good original story to tell...I'm waiting on the first true literary zombie novel. Ain't happened yet. Or I don't think so.
JM: You're an incredibly prolific author, but the quality doesn't waver. How did you build the discipline and stamina to write on a regular basis?
JRL: The trick is to do a small amount regularly. Surprisingly it adds up, and helps maintain the quality. That said, you won't hit on all cylinders all the time. Not if you're proflic. But you can try.
JM: This question is semi-related to the above. I've heard Theodore Sturgeon said something like "90% of everything is crap," regarding how a writer could produce 100 pages and only find 10 that are any good. Do you have a secret drawer of 'duds', or are you at a point now where you realize early on when a story will work and when it won't?
JRL: I think I realize pretty quick, but not always. Sometimes it's the challenge that keeps you going, only to discover the challenger has won, and it isn't you. Sturgeon was actually talking about completed material overall. 90 percent of everything is crap, and that's probably about right. Some of my stories that didn't pass muster were printed in two volumes, GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE INDIFFERENT, and FOR A FEW STORIES MORE. Some of them were pretty good, some acceptable, probably all were workable. These I allowed to be printed in limited volumes with a lot of introductory material to each story, to show that all writers have to begin somewhere. Some of the stories I like, and have allowed, or will allow to be reprinted. A few are dead forever,and a few I would allow to be reprinted under certain circumstances. Despite all that, they are fun books. Even the not so good stories are kind of interesting, I think. There was once a batch of many, many stories that I burned. All of them were awful. They were my education.
--Joe R. Lansdale can be found online at The Orbit.