Know a Nominee, Part 20: Joe McKinney
Welcome back to “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that puts you squarely between the ears of this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Today’s first update features Joe McKinney, nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in Long Fiction for “Lost and Found.”
DM: Please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work(s) for which you’ve been nominated. What attracted you most to the project? If nominated in multiple categories, please touch briefly on each.
JM: I’ve been nominated in the Long Fiction category for my story, “Lost and Found,” which appears in the anthology Limbus II. Limbus, Inc. is an employment agency. They have clients here in the real world, and in the great unknown beyond the grave. Those clients have jobs that need doing. What makes Limbus special is their knack for finding the perfect person to do those jobs. Given that prompt, I knew I wanted to do a supernatural police procedural, something that would combine the hardcore life of a homicide detective with the mysteries of the life beyond death. There’s a nice symmetry there, I think. The detective who solves his own murder has been done to death – pardon the pun – so I knew I didn’t want to do that, but I did want the opportunity to redeem a character that seems, at first blush, irredeemable. That was the real genesis of “Lost and Found,” the idea of redemption.
DM: What was the most challenging part of bringing the concept(s) to fruition? The most rewarding aspect of the process?
JM: The most challenging part was writing a character that, at first blush, seemed irredeemable. He needed to be a good cop gone bad, but not one gone so bad the reader wouldn’t want him to be redeemed. That was challenging, because cops tend to have a low tolerance for crooked cops. So, my character couldn’t be crooked. Bent out of shape, certainly, but not crooked. Hitting on alcoholism as the man’s fatal flaw gave me the window I needed, but it also gave me a chance to discuss the problem of alcoholism generally within police culture. I think I found that the most rewarding aspect of writing this tale.
DM: What do you think good horror/dark literature should achieve? How do you feel the work(s) for which you’ve been nominated work fits into (or help give shape to) that ideal?
JM: Well, I guess the most obvious thing a work in the horror/dark literature genre should do is scare you. You need to walk away from the read feeling a little rattled, a little spooked. And who knows, if it’s good enough, maybe you won’t be able to sleep that night. I’d like to think I achieved that with “Lost and Found.” For me, it’s always been about character. If you care enough about a character, you’ll have the empathetic reaction needed to feel frightened. My story’s protagonist is a drunken cop, true, but I like to think there’s enough of an Everyman about him that readers are able to think of themselves in his shoes.
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? If you find yourself getting stuck, where and why?
JM: I outline everything I do in advance. Outlining has been a huge help to me over the years, allowing me to stay on point and to get stories cranked out. That first draft is always the hardest. But once it’s done, in a way, you’re free. Having that rough draft done allows you the opportunity to go through the story and add depth throughout. So I guess that’s my process. Develop the rough draft, then go through it again and again until it feels right.
DM: As you probably know, many of our readers are writers and/or editors. What is the most valuable piece of advice you can share?
JM: The old adage of write what you know is sort of true. Sort of. But it’s not enough to simply discuss what you know. In order to be interesting, you need to be interested. It doesn’t matter what you’re in to, be it police procedure or astrophysics or plumbing. Be passionate about it. Let that passion bleed through your prose. If readers feel that passion, they will follow you anywhere.
DM: If you’re attending WHC this year, what are you most looking forward to at this year’s event? If not attending, what do you think is the significance of recognitions like the Bram Stoker Awards?
JM: WHC is one convention I never miss. I love seeing old friends, and meeting new ones. It’s only a weekend, but I always come away from that weekend feeling like my batteries have been recharged. It’s like a drug, really, and I can’t get enough of it.
DM: What scares you most? Why? How (if at all) does that figure into your work or the projects you’re attracted to?
JM: Well, as far as specific fears go, I’d say snakes. Even the harmless ones creep me out to the point I have to leave the room. And the reptile house at the zoo…oh God, that’s enough to leave me shaking. But even that fear pales next to the fear of losing my family. I cannot imagine that life would be worth living without my wife and kids, and I tried to channel just how deeply I believe that in “Lost and Found.”
DM: What are you reading for pleasure lately? Can you point us to new authors or works we ought to know about?
JM: I always gobble up the books in the First Novel category with great relish. I’ve found so many wonderful writers there in years past, and this year is no exception. I think there are authors in there that we will be reading for decades to come.So, my recommendation would be to start there. Currently, I’m reading THE DROWNED CITIES by Paolo Bacigalupi. He’s definitely not a new writer, as I’m sure most everybody knows, but if you haven’t discovered him yet, run to the bookstore and do so. His books are amazing.
About Joe McKinney
Joe McKinney is the San Antonio-based author of several horror, crime and science fiction novels. His longer works include the four part Dead World series, made up of Dead City, Apocalypse of the Dead, Flesh Eaters and The Zombie King; the science fiction disaster tale, Quarantined, which was nominated for the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in a novel, 2009; and the crime novel, Dodging Bullets. His upcoming releases include the horror novels Lost Girl of the Lake, The Red Empire, The Charge and St. Rage. Joe has also worked as an editor, along with Michelle McCrary, on the zombie-themed anthology Dead Set, and with Mark Onspaugh on the abandoned building-themed anthology The Forsaken. His short stories and novellas have been published in more than thirty publications and anthologies.
In his day job, Joe McKinney is a sergeant with the San Antonio Police Department, where he helps to run the city’s 911 Dispatch Center. Before promoting to sergeant, Joe worked as a homicide detective and as a disaster mitigation specialist. Many of his stories, regardless of genre, feature a strong police procedural element based on his fifteen years of law enforcement experience.
A regular guest at regional writing conventions, Joe currently lives and works in a small town north of San Antonio with his wife and children.
