March 2008

Interview with Beth Massie
by Elizabeth Blue
elizabethblue.com

Elizabeth Blue is a writer and freelance editor in Glen Allen, Virginia, where she lives with her three sons and four cats. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association and secretary of the Mid-Atlantic Horror Professionals. In her spare time, she reads, cooks and watches drag racing. For more information about Elizabeth's work, visit her website.

Beth Massie is the award-winning author of such books as Sineater, Welcome Back to the Night, Wire Mesh Mothers, Shadow Dreams, Twisted Branch: A Novel of the Abbadon Inn (as Chris Blaine), the short story collections The Fear Report and The Little Magenta Book of Mean Stories among many others. She won the Bram Stoker Award for Sineater, and another Stoker for her novella Stephen. She has been compared to Shirley Jackson, Flannery O'Connor and Stephen King. Between working on various projects, Beth had some time to sit down and answer thirteen questions for both current and future fans of her work.

Elizabeth Blue: This is a classic question all horror writers get asked, so we'll go there first to get it out of the way! What in God's name made you want to write horror novels, of all things?

Beth Massie: As a kid I was scared of tons of stuff...what was in the closet at night, the old lady across the street, what was in my grandmother's attic, the old lady down the street, creepy dolls, clowns, blasting caps (yeah, when I was a kid we had to watch movies in school that pounded in our brains "NEVER EVER TOUCH A BLASTING CAP IF YOU FIND IT! IT WILL BLOW YOUR HAND OFF!!"), the empty house at the edge of town, the movie poster for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, oh, you name it. On the other hand, which I would guess goes hand in hand with those who end up writing horror, I also was totally intrigued by those things that frightened me. Some kids are scared and they stay away from the scary stuff, the end. Not me. I was scared but then would poke a stick at the scary stuff to see what would happen. Which means while I was scared of the old lady down the street, I would still walk by her house slowly to see if she would beckon to me. While I was afraid of the empty house at the edge of town, I would peek inside to see what was there. My favorite t.v. shows were Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, and Shock Theater, which I would watch while clutching a throw pillow (for those who don't know, pillows are protection from scary things). However, I'm not sure this really answers the why I write horror novels, but more explains that I've had a fascination of terrifying things for a long time. These can be real-life terrifying things, or those mysterious supernatural scary things.

Blue: When did you first realize you wanted to write, and what did you write first?

Massie: I always knew I wanted to write. I was a constant source of "entertainment" for my family, who got to be the first audience for any story I made up. I do recall the first so-called published piece I ever wrote. I was four, and I'd made up a story at supper-time. That night, when I went to bed, my dad went down to the town's newspaper office where he worked. He typed up my story as best he could remember it, found cut out advertising artwork for illustrations, and pasted it all together into a book for me. The next morning he gave it to me and I was thrilled. It was called The Squirrel and the Acorns. Horror? I'll let you wonder about that...

Blue: You don't write only horror, though. You also have a great series of historical fiction for young readers. What spurred you to start the series, and are there any new ones on the horizon?

Massie: Back in the early 1990s, horror was sliding into one of its many slumps. I was still teaching middle school kids (yee-hah!) yet champing at the bit to be a full-time writer. My agent at the time suggested I give historical fiction a shot. At first I resisted (I mean, daggone, ya gotta do a lot of research for that!!) but I figured, what the hay. My first historical novel was for middle-grade students, and it was a cross between historical and horror, a time-traveling thriller. Then I went on to write a trilogy, The Daughters of Liberty, for middle readers and then The Young Founders series for young adults. The more I wrote, the more I came to love the process of researching and then placing characters in other times. At the moment I don't have any more of my original historical books lined up, but I just turned in the novelization for the second season of the Showtime network's series, The Tudors. It's all about Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. I'd never done a novelization before, and never had written in that time period before, so it was, again, a lot of research but an incredibly fun and challenging experience. The book will be out in May.

Blue: You're so multi-talented! Not only are you a successful writer, but you're also an artist with your own collection of cute and creepy little critters: the Skeeryville characters. How did those come about?

Massie: Ah, shucks, thanks! Drawing has always been a fun aside for me. It's so totally different from writing because it originates almost totally from the right brain, whereas writing must depend on both the right and left brain. Creating Skeeryvilletown creatures is relaxing, like having a good cup of chai at Starbucks...and it doesn't cost $4 a pop. I work on Skeeryvilletown artwork between books, so it's time to create some new pieces! I've been very lucky and very happy that the artwork has been so well received at various horror convention art shows. The most popular of the creatures remains 3-Eyed Devil Cat.

Blue: Homeplace featured a character who spent most of her time in the book alone. Did you find it challenging to write an entire novel with so few characters and so much solitary time for the protagonist?

Massie: Not really. I've spent a lot of time alone, and understand the mental/emotional rambling rhythms that involves. Because there aren't a lot of other people for the main character to bounce her thoughts off of, she has to bounce them off herself, her alter-self. There is a lot more inner dialogue in Homeplace than my other novels. Alienation and isolation have been a big part of many of my short stories, and it is a springboard for a lot of horrors. I didn't find it difficult to stretch that sense of alienation into a book-length work, to image the things Charlene would say to herself as the spirits in the house began to take notice of her and tried to get her attention.

Blue: Most of your work doesn't involve the supernatural. How did it end up finding its way into Homeplace?

Massie: To be honest, my editor said she was looking for a good ghost story! So there ya go! It was only my second ghost/haunted house novel so I had a great time playing with the concept of spirits and what kind of power they would or wouldn't have.

Blue: You're a master of characterization, and Homeplace is no exception. Can you tell us a little bit about how you invent these wonderful characters? Do their details just "come to you" or is there a process you go through to create them?

Massie: Thanks again. (Blush.) As to my characters, be they good, bad, or a mixture of both (which most of them are) they are all me to a degree. Most of my novel and short story ideas begin with a character rather than a plot point. I put on the character's skin (literally or figuratively? bwa-ha-ha! who knows for sure?) and spend time with them, imagining their reactions and feelings to a myriad circumstances, both ordinary and horrific. As I do this, I come up with their backgrounds, influences, fears and hopes, strengths and weaknesses. Then I'm ready to actually put them through their paces in a particular setting, a particular situation. I think the fact that, as humans, we have more in common than not, creating realistic characters is not all that hard.

Blue: What's the one question you've always wanted to be asked in an interview but never have, and what's the answer to that question?

Massie: Gee, that's hard. I've been asked so many questions in the past years! Hmmm...okay, here's one. What was Pseudocon? Pseudocon was a "convention" I used to have at my house. It ran for about 10 years. Each summer, Mark Rainey, Dave Wilson, Brian Hodge, Yvonne Navarro, Jeff Osier, Lisa Lepovetsky, Wayne Allen Sallee, Harry Fassl, and other writers and illustrators made the trip to Virginia for a weekend (well it began as a weekend, and ended up being five days) of hanging out, partying, readings, and wild and wacky games. It was a blast. Pseudocons ended when I got a divorce and moved and no longer had all the space I originally had. Sigh. Good times. Good times. Maybe I'll have to start it up again.

Blue: Here's another classic question asked of horror writers: What thing (or things) scare you the most?

Massie: Well, I named a lot that used to scare me. Today, I'm terrified of someone else having total power over me, terrorists and their twisted mindset, losing my mind, and not being able to write. I'm also remain scared of heights and tightly enclosed spaces. I had one MRI before...holy CRAP!!!! That's a little hole!!!

Blue: Who are some of your favorite writers, and have any of them influenced your work?

Massie: I read a wide variety of fiction (which is crucial to a writer, I believe). I'm particularly drawn to the works of F. Paul Wilson, Richard Matheson, Kevin Baker, Anne Tyler, Fannie Flagg, Bentley Little, Christopher Golden, Thomas Tryon, and others. I'm sure everything I've read has influenced me in one way or other. If I find the writing weak, clumsy, or too "precious," I learn what I don't want to do with my work. Case in point, the novels of David Searcy. Some think he's got it going, is a master. But I've never had to force myself through such a tangled, self-conscious mess as his book, Last Things. On the other hand, when I find writing strong, moving, terrifying, thought-provoking, then I know my psyche is taking notes and putting gold stars beside them. Whether I read something that has a fine attention to detail, a particularly effective pacing, an excellent grasp of characters, I feel I shape into a better writer. Not that I'm going to take someone's style and use it, but it helps me see what works and helps me define my own more clearly.

Blue: So, when you're not writing, drawing, eating, sleeping, sitting in traffic or standing in line at the grocery store, assuming there's time leftover, what do you do with yourself?

Massie: I watch Amazing Race and The Office. I hike, drive around seeking out roads I've never traveled, and read-read-read!!! I send out lots of letters on behalf of human rights victims through Amnesty International (I've belonged since 1984). I also cook and knit a little. Howzat for a horror writer?

Blue: If your name were to be an answer on Jeopardy in a Writer Trivia category, what would make a good question for that answer?

Massie: Who has always lived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, lives with illustrator Cortney Skinner, writes creepy stuff she hopes will scare the poop out of folks, and would subsist on Tung Ting Shrimp, Hershey's Kissables, and Pepsi if given the choice?

Blue: What are you working on now? Once everyone reads Homeplace, what new stuff can they look forward to?

Massie: I've just started two new projects. One is a script for a Phantom comic book. I'm still researching the character and getting immersed. Second, I've been asked by Arcadia Publishing to do a photo history of my hometown, Waynesboro. I've been in touch with the historical society, the town's Heritage Museum, and other folks and will start the actual work in a few weeks. Much fun, that! I'm writing a five-part radio play, The Mystery of the Meandering Music Box, for my town's Downtown Foundation (the first chapter was performed a couple weeks ago). I have a story coming out this year in Darkness on the Edge, an anthology featuring stories inspired by Bruce Springsteen songs. I have another story coming out in a new Zorro anthology this year, published by Moonstone. And my short story, Abed, is scheduled to be filmed in March as a short movie. There is some very cool news about that, but it's not something I can share at the moment! :)