Know a Nominee, Part 23: Jonathan Maberry

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 Jonathan Maberry, nominated in the categories of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel, for Bad Blood and Superior Achievement in Long Fiction for “Three Guys Walk into a Bar.”

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’m fortunate to have two works on the ballot for this year’s Stokers. A long fiction piece, “Three Guys Walk into a Bar” and a graphic novel, Bad Blood.

The prose piece is a novella for the Limbus II shared-world anthology. The theme of those anthos is a mysterious organization that offers strange forms of employment to desperate people. I did a related novella, “Strip Search” last year for the first volume. My stories for Limbus feature Sam Hunter, a down-on-his-luck private investigator who also happens to be a benandanti, a kind of werewolf from Italian folklore that fights evil. But “Three Guys…” is also a crossover story in which Sam encounters the lead characters from two of my most popular series, Malcolm Crow from my Pine Deep Trilogy (the first book of which, Ghost Road Blues, won the Stoker for Best First Novel) and Joe Ledger, the star of my series of weird-science thrillers (now in development for TV). I’ve been looking for a logical way to have those guys in one story, but it wasn’t until I was knocking around ideas for Limbus that it all came together. The story deals with terrorists, werewolves, genetics, and mass murder. I probably had too much fun writing that one.

The other story is much, much darker. Bad Blood was a four-issue limited series I did for Dark Horse comics. It was also my first non-superhero comic, after years of writing Captain America, Black Panther, Avengers, and other series for Marvel. Bad Blood is about a teenager who is dying of leukemia who winds up in a desperate fight against a clan of ancient vampires. Questions about living and dying, mortality and immortality are central to the story. The hero’s only ‘super power’ is that the chemo drugs in his system make him toxic to vampires. The art by Eisner Award-winner Tyler Crook (BPRD) is absolutely amazing. This is, however, not the ‘feel good’ story of the year.

DM: What was the most challenging part of bringing the concept(s) to fruition? The most rewarding aspect of the process?

JM: If you write a lot of genre fiction there is an ongoing challenge of finding a fresh entry into a trope. Vampires, zombies, demons, ghosts, and other forms of horror are well-known and well-worn. That said, it’s the job of a writer to find the new facet, or to polish an old one so that it shines in a new way. It’s a challenge, but if you love writing that’s also the allure. Nothing excites me more than to sit down to discover something new in what at first appears to be entirely known.

DM: What do you think good horror/dark literature should achieve?

JM: Horror should never be cheap or exploitive. It should never be stale. And it should never be too safe or comfortable. Horror, by its nature, should delve deep, burrow under the skin, find the nerve, and take a fresh bite,

DM: How do you feel the work(s) for which you’ve been nominated work fits into (or help give shape to) that ideal?

JM: “Three Guys Walk into a Bar” uses three different doorways into the story. One character (Sam Hunter) is a noir P.I.; Malcolm Crow comes from more of a classical horror setting; and Joe Ledger is a thriller action hero. That they can move around inside the same story is the challenge that made writing this so much fun. It wasn’t like anything I’ve done before.

“Bad Blood” is a moody, small-scale and very personal piece that tapped into the loss I felt when my best friend died of leukemia when we were fifteen. I wanted to capture the unfairness of having someone so filled with life and potential be robbed of everything.

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 am not a temperamental writer. I can write in the middle of traffic. I’m also a full-time professional, so I can’t afford to wait for the muse to coax me into a fit of creativity. I write eight hours a day, every working day. A little less on weekends. I hit my deadlines and I move directly onto the next project. I focus on the business of publishing while also being very dedicated to the craft of writing. I also juggle a lot of projects. Right now I’m in a highly productive phase of my career. I’m writing five novels this year in five different genres (middle grade SF, adult action thriller, Steampunk alt-history, horror, and YA post-apocalyptic adventure). I’m also editing anthologies (X-Files and others), writing comics, writing short stories, and managing TV and film deals. And I’m touring extensively and speaking at genre and writers conferences. And I’m having fun doing all of that.

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: Best advice I ever got was from Richard Matheson, who told me that ‘writing is an art –a conversation between you and the reader; and publishing is a business that sells copies of art. Know both and be good at both.” Along with that is something Ray Bradbury told me when I thirteen: “If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.

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: I love the WHC and the Stokers. I get to see old friends, make new friends, network, gossip, and immerse myself in the raw energy that is created when horror readers and writers congregate.

DM: What scares you most? Why? How (if at all) does that figure into your work or the projects you’re attracted to?

JM: The potential misuse and improper use of technology scares the bejeezus out of me. I do a lot of research on different areas of science and technology, and even though I’m a card-carrying science junkie, some of it is ominous. That’s why I write thrillers in which bad people do very bad things with technology that is more ‘current technology’ than ‘science fiction.’

DM: What are you reading for pleasure lately? Can you point us to new authors or works we ought to know about?

JM: Most of what I’m reading right now are stories for the various anthologies I’m editing. However I have read some great books this year, including The Night House by Rachel Tafoya, Predators by Janice Gable Bashman, Deadout by Jon McGoran and Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke.
About Jonathan Maberry

JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning horror and thriller author, editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. He was named one of the Today’s Top Ten Horror Writers. His books have been sold to more than two-dozen countries.