Know a Nominee, Part Ten: Gene O’Neill
Thanks for joining us for this entry in our “Know a Nominee” interview series, which gives you daily sneak peeks inside the minds of this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Featured today is Gene O’Neill, who is nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection, for Dance of the Blue Lady (Bad Moon Books).
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.
GO: Somewhere I’ve mentioned I once taught adaptive P.E. and worked with all kinds of young people with special needs. I’ve written a number of stories about people overcoming various handicaps. “Dance of the Blue Lady” is my favorite.
DM: What was the most challenging part of bringing your idea to fruition? The most rewarding aspect of the process?
GO: In a collection, actually selecting the stories and putting them in some kind of logical order is a challenge.
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?
GO: I think horror/dark fiction should aspire to the ideals of all good fiction. It should enlighten, inspire, and entertain. The stories in DANCE OF THE BLUE LADY contain varying degrees of these characteristics.
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?
GO: I write in the same spot every day. I don’t experience writer’s block or get stuck.
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?
GO: Read, read, read and write, write, write; then don’t be discouraged by the initial barrage of rejections–just keep your head down.
DM: What are you most looking forward to at the WHC/Bram Stoker Awards? What do you think is the significance of the awards?
GO: The award ceremony is an opportunity to see old colleagues, meet new ones, including new young writers. The award is significant because it comes from your peers. At the WHC in general, I enjoy meeting fans, especially ones who have read my writing.
About Gene O’Neil
After surviving Clarion 1979, Gene O’Neill has seen 150 of his short stories, novelettes, and novellas published. Four collections of these stories have appeared, along with six novels. He has been nominated for the Stoker Award nine times, twice taking home the house. Soon to be published from Thunderstorm Books is a four book series called The Cal Wild Chronicles, which includes the new novel, The Confessions of St. Zach. He has just finished and turned in to his agent another novel, The White Plague. Gene is currently working on several promised projects, including two new novellas.
