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Know a Nominee, Part Eighteen: F. Paul Wilson

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Welcome to “Know a Nominee,” the blog series that puts you inside the minds of some of the greatest practitioners of horror and dark fiction working today—this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Featured today is F. Paul Wilson, nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Novel, for a book he co-authored with Sarah Pinborough, A Necessary End (Thunderstorm/Maelstrom Press).

 
DM: Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you’ve been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you’ve written multiple storiesNecessaryEnd (like a collection) please choose your favorite part and discuss.

FPL: A Necessary End began in the spring of 2011. (I know because the Google doc I set up is dated 5/16/11.) I’d been reading Sarah’s A Matter of Blood where she has a character called the “Man of Flies.” I envisioned a horde of flies buzzing along a street in the shape of a man—something which appeared neither in her book nor in ours, but it got the what-if juices flowing.

Why were the flies there? A plague, of course, as in the Bible. People always attribute plagues to one god or another, so the punnish working title, “The Flies of the Lord,” popped into my head. And the god aspect set up the book’s them of knowledge vs. belief.

Remembering the wonderful apocalyptic feel of Sarah’s novel, and because she’d triggered the whole scenario, I dropped her a line and asked her if she wanted to be involved. She did. I set up a Google doc and we began using it to spitball (usually better in person but we had an ocean between us). We even got into character and had an argument in real time on the doc. (She hurt my feelings.)

 

 

DM: What was the most challenging part of bringing your idea to fruition? The most rewarding aspect of the process?

FPL: The most challenging part was working thousands of miles and numerous time zones apart. Plus, Sarah had overbooked herself with writing commitments. The rewards of collaboration come when your counterpart sends you something so over-the-top good that you jump up and punch the air. That was Sarah’s scene in Heathrow. The idea was simply to set up Nigel’s character and give some background on the plague. She went far beyond that. (If you’ve read the book, you know exactly the moment.)

 

 

DM: What do you think good horror/dark fiction should achieve? How do you feel the work for which you’ve been nominated fits into that ideal?

FPL: I don’t like “shoulds” about genres, although a horror story should earn the designation by somebody’s definition. That said, I like H/DF that unsettles me rather than makes me flinch, the sort or evil that doesn’t plunge the knife in someone’s eye, but convinces someone that it’s the right thing to do to his or her own eye. I’d call A Necessary End apocalyptic fiction with a definite horror element.

 

 

DM: I’m curious about your writing and/or editing process. Is there a certain setting or set of circumstances that help to move things along? Where do you often find yourself getting stuck, and why?

FPL: (don’t have much of an answer for this one)
DM: As you probably know, many of our readers are writers themselves. What is the most valuable piece of advice you can share with someone who may be struggling to make their way in this life?

FPL: Write every day. Treat it as a job and set a minimum number of words you will—that you must put on paper every day—especially if you’re a part-timer, because there’s always something else that seems to need doing first. No, the writing needs doing, so do it. That’s the best way to maintain narrative momentum and the only way to assure yourself of completing that all-important first draft. The world is awash in unfinished mss.

 

 

DM: What are you most looking forward to at this year’s Bram Stoker Awards/WHC?

FPL: Seeing old friends, mostly. And hanging with new ones, like the growing contingent of successful writers from the Borderlands Bootcamp. They practically own the Stoker short fiction category this year. I’m very proud of them.

 

 

 

About F. Paul Wilson

F. Paul Wilson is the award-winning, NY Times bestselling author of fifty-plus books and numerous short stories spanning medical thrillers, sf, horror, adventure, and virtually everything between. More than nine million copies of his books are in print in the U.S. and his work has been translated into 24 languages. He also has written for the stage, screen, and interactive media. His latest thriller, Dark City, stars the notorious urban mercenary, Repairman Jack, and is the first of The Early Years Trilogy. Fear City follows soon. He currently resides at the Jersey Shore and can be found on the Web at www.repairmanjack.com.

 

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