A Lee Martinez

       A. Lee Martinez: He's not wacky

MZ:  Tell us a little bit about yourself. What led you into writing fiction?

ALM: I have nothing interesting to say about my life. It has been thoroughly unremarkable. When they do the
movie of my life, I won't have a cool alcoholism problem to deal with or a defining moment. No, it'll be two and 
a half hours of watching a guy play video games and watching Godzilla movies.

I started writing, more or less, because I didn't have any better ideas. I started writing fiction because I liked 
making things up. It seemed like a strange way to make a living, telling stories and getting paid for it. But I figured it
was worth a try.

Of course, I couldn't have done it without a lot of support. First and foremost, my Mom, who supported me all the 
way (and still does). I wouldn't be here if not for her, and this is as much her accomplishment as mine. I had the easy part. 
I just sat around all day, writing. She had to listen to everyone telling her what a terrible mistake she was making. Luckily, 
she didn't listen to any of them.

The next group is the DFW Writers Workshop. These folks really helped me on so many levels and still do today.

MZ: What do you like to read? Are there any specific authors that have inspired you?

ALM: This is kind of a bad thing for a writer to admit, but I don't read very much fiction. Though I have developed a 
non-fiction reading habit recently. Modern fantasy, in particular, just doesn't have much to appeal to me. I'm not a big 
series guy and I have a short attention span, so most popular epic series aren't my bag. Not so much a fault in their quality 
as a flaw in me, I think.

I read comic books. Big fan of them. I'd have to say they're my biggest influence. They're half-literary, half-cinematic. I've 
been told I have a very visual writing style, and I'm sure that's where it comes from. I also enjoy their faster pace than a 
conventional novel, and I think that shows in my writing, too.

I do read fiction, but usually older stuff. My favorite writer is Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Tarzan). He wrote nearly a 
hundred years ago, and yet, I love his style. It's strangely formal and visceral at the same time. Tarzan is my all-time favorite 
literary character.

Some other writers I enjoy are Roger Zelazny, Michael Moorcock, and Richard S. Prather. Prather, in particular, is a 
favorite. His writing has snap. Shame more people don't know about him.

MZ: Is Gil's All Fright Diner your very first book? How did it come about?

ALM: GIL'S is my first published book, but it's not the frst novel I'd written. Like I said, I seriously pursued this career, 
and that meant writing and writing a lot. Before GIL'S I'd written perhaps seven or eight manuscripts. Hard to remember 
now. They're in boxes somewhere. While the early ones aren't that great, I still consider them publishable. I just haven't felt 
like going back and dusting them off. Not when I've got other ideas I'm more interested in.

MZ: How did GIL'S come about?

ALM: Like a lot of my ideas, it came from a desire to shake things up a bit. I was so tired of the romantic, tragic vampire 
that dominates vampire fiction. I wanted to throw a regular joe in the mix. This really isn't a new idea, and there were already 
books with the same premise out there. Still, the percentage is small, and it's a relatively unexplored concept.

Once I had the vampire, the whole notion of the supernatural as ordinary came to me. Rockwood is just a small Southern 
town where the extraordinary has become something to expect. That's where the story's foundation came from.

MZ: Why humor? Would you ever consider doing a serious book?
 
ALM: I get this question a lot, and I always offer the same reply. I don't consider myself a humor writer. I'm not writing 
to make jokes. I'm trying to tell an unexpected story. That means tweaking or outright breaking conventions, and many people 
assume that if you're doing something unexpected and offbeat, it must be a joke. Sure, I throw in humor and try not to take 
myself too seriously. But I'm not out to make people fall over with laughter.

Take GIL'S and the infamous zombie cows. A lot of people hear the phrase and assume it's an attempt at wackiness. 
Okay, so it's a little strange, and I do play with the convention for a chuckle or two. But those cows are not a joke. They're 
dangerous. Imagine a zombie that outweighs you by a few hundred pounds and laugh at it then. Brian Keene uses zombie 
animals in his novel "The Rising" and no one assumes they're a joke.

Of course, I don't want to sound as if humor isn't important to my work. It is. I write with humor because that's how I am. 
I make jokes. I try not to take life too seriously, but that doesn't mean I don't step up when it's important. I'd like to hope it's 
the same with my characters and my stories. I hope when people read GIL'S or OGRES that they're getting more out of it 
than a good chuckle. Not that I'm complaining if that's all they get. After all, chuckles can be hard to come by. 


MZ: Have you ever considered doing a graphic novel? Your talents seem to lend themselves so easily to that format.

ALM: When I was first considering writing as a career, I briefly gave thought to pursuing something involving art. 
Ultimately, I decided I was a better writer than an artist. I've improved a lot since then, but I'm still not a strong enough 
artist to do much more than a few doodles. Comic books are truly a demanding art form. A great artist can draw anything 
from guys in capes to cars to alien invasions to a cobb salad. I can't do that. I can just draw what I'm good at, and right now, 
no one is beating down my door for the rights to vampire-hunting ducks and angry pixies. I'd love to give writing a comic a 
shot, and maybe one day, someone will call me up and ask me to. But that's probably a long way off.

MZ: I know you used a critique group to shape your novels. How critical were they to your success? What did you learn
from being in a critique circle?

ALM: Very critical. Without them, I wouldn't be published today. It was through my group that I met my editor, and when 
you're an aspiring, unpublished writer, you need all the edges you can get. I've learned a lot at the DFW Writers Workshop. 
Too much to list. The best thing I learned from the DFWWW is this: Anyone can get published.

That's an amazing thing to know. It's not about great writing or fantastic ideas or following trends or using the correct font. 
All those things help, of course, but when it comes down to it, it's all about persistence. You learn that when you stand in a 
room full of published writers and realize that they're just people. There's no secret initiation to join the club, and writers 
don't glow with heavenly inspiration. They write. They submit. The DFWWW recently had a party celebrating our 250th 
published work. It's an amazing accomplishment, and yet, no one at the group acts like they're very special. We're just 
people who write.

MZ: At Fencon you said that you don't outline. What's your normal writing routine? Does it start with an idea or with a character?

ALM: I don't outline, but I don't have any special method for writing. Some stories, like GIL'S, start with characters. I had a 
vampire named Earl and a werewolf named Duke, and the rest sprang from that. For OGRES, I had the notion for a reluctant 
immortal. In my next book, A NAMLESS WITCH, it all started with a first sentence that intrigued me. But for THE 
AUTOMATIC DETECTIVE and NESSY'S CASTLE (both due out in the next two or three years), I had a stronger story 
concept. I knew DETECTIVE would be a retro-sci fi noir story, and NESSY'S would be about a castle full of curses.

Even when I have a strong concept, I don't really know where the story is going. I write as I go, focusing on what was written 
before and building on it. In a way,  it's like I'm reading the story as I write it. By the time I get to the end, if it all makes sense 
and I'm surprised and entertained, then I figure the reader will be, too.

My strongest point as a writer is logical extrapolation coupled with a good imagination. When I write some detail, even 
offhand, I find a way to incorporate in the larger plot. It seems to work for me because I find the novels develop their own 
themes and styles. So far, nobody has remarked that "Martinez is clearly making this stuff up as he goes" although now that 
I've admitted it, somebody probably will.

MZ: You write relationships extremely well. They have a funny but dysfunctional quality about them that seems very much 
like real life even though they belong to otherworldly beings. Is the relationship aspect between buddies, lovers and other 
unnatural beings central to your storytelling?

ALM: In most writing, the characters drive the story. It's important to have believable characters. Notice that I said 
"believable" not "realistic". Realism is not generally a writer's friend. Believability is key though, and that's a flexible rule. 
All that's required for something to be believable is for it to be consistent, and I do my best to listen to the characters, 
not force them to do things that would make the story easier to tell or for dramatic effect.

While it's true that my characters are not entirely human, that's no excuse to make them cardboard cutouts. I despise
stereotypes, and that includes the stereotypes of fantasy creatures. Just as I'd never want any of my characters to be 
entirely defined by their physical characteristics, so I don't want my goblins, robots, vampires, etc. to be just walking clichés.

Good characters and strong relationships are essential to a good story. But so is a good story. I think both are equally 
important in my writing. I try to have solid characters, but I want to give them something to do. I'm not writing character 
studies, after all.

MZ: Tell us the story on how you found your agent.

ALM: It's a short story. My agent found me. I sold my first three books directly to the publisher, no agent involved. 
Maybe that wasn't smart, but I wasn't about to turn down any deal at that stage. When GIL'S got a featured review in 
Publishers Weekly and a lot of positive buzz, movie people started sniffing around. I was way out of my depth then. My 
agent worked with my publisher, and she got in contact with me through them.

MZ: What's your perspective on promoting your book? Do you find speaking at conferences or other appearances 
have helped sales?

ALM: Promotion is key to a new writer. I don't know how important it is when you're Stephen King or Tom Clancy, 
but I'm not anywhere near those guys. I do what I can (book signings, appearances, etc), but my travel range is limited. 
Fortunately, I live in Dallas, and it's a big enough city to give me more opportunities than a smaller town. I also maintain a 
MySpace page ( www.myspace.com/a_lee_martinez ) and an official writers website ( www.aleemartinez.com ).

I can't say how much of a difference it has made though because it's impossible to measure. But I do know that word of 
mouth is essential to book sales, and I've sold one or two readers on my books through my appearances and websites. 
And one or two can make all the difference in the world.

MZ: What advice would you give unpublished writers? Is there anything you wish someone had told you when you started out?

ALM: Write and submit. Write a lot and finish your manuscript. Don't spend forever in revisions. If it's not good by the third 
go thru, it's probably never going to be good. But even if it stinks, submit it anyway because a lot of bad stuff gets published. 
--And who knows? It might not be as bad as you think.

Finish as much as possible. The more you can be submitting, the better your odds of acceptance. Also, publishers are looking 
for writers that show they can produce. If you've got three or four manuscripts to show them, then you'll score some bonus points.

Remember that writing is not just an art. It's a job. Treat it as such. A carpenter can't make a career out of building one house. 
An aspiring writer shouldn't hang everything on one manuscript either.

Go to writer conferences if you can. It's not essential, but it'll help. Editors and agents are far more likely to accept your 
manuscript if they can picture your face. That's just the cold truth. Of course, it's not impossible to be accepted without 
going to conferences. I did it, and I still haven't met my editor face-to-face. But anything that gives you an edge is worth 
considering.

Finding a good writers group can't hurt either. Avoid mutual admiration societies. Those really don't do you much good, 
although they do help you feel better about yourself. In this business, anything that keeps you going can't be all bad.

Other than that, I think it's just stubbornness. Keep writing and submitting. Strive to improve your writing, to build relationships 
with publishers / agents. But most importantly, and I know I keep saying this but it's surprisingly overlooked, is keep writing 
and submitting.

MZ: Your first book is Gil's All Fright Diner. Your second book is In the Company of Ogres. Both seem to lend themselves 
to possible sequels. What are your plans for future books?

ALM: There are no sequels planned for either GIL'S or OGRES. Nor are there any sequels in the works for my next three novels. 
All are standalone stories, and at this stage, I prefer it that way. Like I said, I'm not really a series guy and my attention span isn't 
long enough to support a series. Not when I've got so many worlds and characters in my head, aching to be set on the page.

I'm hoping to offer an alternative to the dominance of series and epics in fantasy / sci fi. It's great that those books exist for fans 
of the genre, but I feel an entire audience is being neglected. There's a lot of people out there who just want to pick up a good 
book and read a brisk, well-written story without having to invest the rest of their life in it. I'm glad that at least at this stage, you 
can pick up any of my books and know that you don't have to know anything outside of those pages and that you'll find a satisfying 
conclusion when you're finished.

I assume Duke and Earl and Never Dead Ned will return one day, but it'll be when I really feel compelled to tell another of their 
stories. Or when my publisher dumps a dump truck full of cash on my doorstep. The best way to get that to happen is to buy a 
lot of copies of my books to encourage the publisher to do so. Heck, buy ten.

MZ: Is there anything else you'd like readers to know? Don't hold back. We want the dirt.

ALM: Please, please, please, don't call my books "campy". I can live with "zany", and "wacky" is okay if you really must.
Also, Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father. Shocking, I know, but true!

****

...I have a suggestion. Let's just call them FUN. 
GIL'S ALL FRIGHT DINER and A COMPANY OF OGRES were page-turners from beginning to end. Pick them up at 
your bookstore today and prepare to be entertained. --mz


Want to contact A. Lee Martinez? 
Drop him a line at his My Space page or at his official  website .