Know a Nominee, Part Four: David Gerrold
Welcome to part four of our ongoing interview series, “Know a Nominee,” which gives you daily glimpses inside the minds of some of the best horror writers and editors working today—specifically, this year’s Bram Stoker Awards nominees. Today, we feature David Gerrold, who’s nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in Short Fiction for his story, “The Night Train to Paris” (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan./Feb., 2013)
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 stories (like a collection) please choose your favorite part and discuss.
DG: The genesis of the story is the first part of the story. I was in Italy for a convention. I thought I’d take the train from Milan to the south of France. There was no train available, so I was stuck with the night train to Paris. Everything in the story up to the moment I boarded the train and settled in my compartment actually happened.
I was in Paris for several days, and started writing the story almost immediately. I had come up with a vague idea of a horrific phantasm stalking the train, and I let my fictional travel companion relate that story.
When I got to London, I stayed with friends for four days. I finished the story in the evenings. I had a pretty good idea how the story should end, but when I got to the very last line, I typed something completely different instead — something much more scary to me. Gordon Van Gelder, the editor of F&SF doesn’t like email submissions, but he made an exception for me in this case. The check was waiting for me when I got home. That was a pleasant surprise, but the story still gives me echoes of that long, dark train ride.
DM: What was the most challenging part of bringing your idea to fruition? The most rewarding aspect of the process?
DG: Whenever I travel, I write. Something about visiting new places always triggers new ideas. I get to explore and discover and surprise myself — and I end up with a story that couldn’t have been written otherwise. The most rewarding part is that the story always evokes the whole experience all over again. I can point to a dozen stories that were drawn from personal adventures and they’re my favorites because they’re so personal.
DM: What do you think good horror/dark fiction should achieve? How do you feel the work for which you’ve been nominated work fits into that ideal?
DG: I think a great horror story should unnerve you — it should get stuck in your throat like a fishbone, and no matter how hard you try to swallow, it stays painfully there forever. I’ve got stories gnawing at the bottom of my skull that I read a half century ago, stories by Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson, Stanley Ellin, Saki, Lord Dunsany that still disturb me every time I think of them.
“Night Train to Paris” gave me a chill when I wrote it — not just because of what happened when I got to the last line, but also because it leaves so many questions unanswered. To me, that’s the scariest part of a horror story — not just that you don’t know, but that you can’t know.
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?
DG: My writing process is simple. I sit, I type. I stare at the empty screen, silently muttering, “Nope, that won’t work. Nope, nope, nope.” And I do that one sentence after the other until I get to the last line. Sometimes the words flow, and that’s marvelous, but sometimes I have to chisel them out of neutronium, one letter a time.
I don’t have a set ritual. I think about stuff. I sit. I type. Sometimes I play music. I type some more. I get up and make coffee. I come back and type some more. I get up and walk around for a while. I come back and type some more. I realize I’ve skipped two meals, I make a sandwich. I come back and type some more. I realize it’s two in the morning. I type some more….
And that’s on the days when I’m not writing.
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?
DG: The most valuable advice I could ever give any writer is simple. Write what you love. Write the story you most want to read, but nobody else is writing it. Be the toughest reader you know. That way, if you satisfy your own worst critic–you–you’ll know that at least one person on the planet was happy. If you don’t please yourself first, you can’t expect anyone else to care either.
The other piece of advice? Write. Every. Day. Whether. You. Want. To. Or. Not.
DM: What are you most looking forward to at this year’s Bram Stoker Awards/WHC (if you are attending)? If not attending, what do you think is the significance of recognitions like the Bram Stoker Awards?
DG: I’ve never been to the World Horror Convention. I have no idea what to expect. What I’m most looking forward to is having my imagination tickled. (And I have a very active imagination, so it’s going to require some aggressive tickling.)
About David Gerrold
David Gerrold’s work is famous around the world. His novels and stories have been translated into more than a dozen languages. His TV scripts are estimated to have been seen by more than a billion viewers.
Gerrold’s prolific output includes stage shows, teleplays, film scripts, educational films, computer software, comic books, more than 50 novels and anthologies, and hundreds of articles, columns, and short stories.
He has worked on a dozen different TV series, including Star Trek, Land of the Lost, Twilight Zone, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Babylon 5, and Sliders. He is the author of Star Trek’s most popular episode “The Trouble With Tribbles.”
Many of his novels are classics of the science fiction genre, including The Man Who Folded Himself, the ultimate time travel story, and When HARLIE Was One, considered one of the most thoughtful tales of artificial intelligence ever written. His stunning novels on ecological invasion, A Matter For Men, A Day For Damnation, A Rage For Revenge, and A Season For Slaughter, have all been best sellers with a devoted fan following. His young adult series, The Dingiliad, traces the healing journey of a troubled family from Earth to a far-flung colony on another world. His Star Wolf series of novels about the psychological nature of interstellar war are in development as a television series.
A ten-time Hugo and Nebula award nominee, David Gerrold is also a recipient of the Skylark Award for Excellence in Imaginative Fiction and the Forrest J. Ackerman lifetime achievement award.
In 1995, Gerrold shared the adventure of how he adopted his son in The Martian Child, a semi-autobiographical tale of a science fiction writer who adopts a little boy, only to discover he might be a Martian. The Martian Child won the science fiction triple crown: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Locus Poll. It was the basis for the 2007 film Martian Child starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet.
Gerrold’s greatest writing strengths are generally acknowledged to be his readable prose, his easy wit, his facility with action, the accuracy of his science, and the passions of his characters. An accomplished lecturer and world-traveler, he has made appearances all over the United States, England, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. His easy-going manner and disarming humor have made him a perennial favorite with audiences. David Gerrold will be a Guest of Honor at the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention.
He is currently completing, A Method for Madness, the fifth book in The War Against The Chtorr series.
