Ed Gorman at CYBLING

Ed Gorman Author of "Angie" published in 999 Avon's Horror Anthology July 20, 1999 9:00 pm ET		Get Ed Gorman's Books The Interview

Ed Gorman has been called "one of suspense fiction's best storytellers" by Ellery Queen, and "one of the most original voices in today's crime fiction" by the San Diego Union.

Gorman's work has appeared in magazines as various as Redbook, Ellery Queen, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Poetry Today.

His work has won numerous prizes, including the Shamus, the Spur, and the International Fiction Writer's awards. He's been nominated for the Edgar, the Anthony, the Golden Dagger, and the Bram Stoker, awards.

Former Los Angeles Times critic Charles Champlin noted that "Ed Gorman is a powerful storyteller."

Gorman's work has been taken by the Literary Guild, The Mystery Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and the Science Fiction Book Club.

The July 20, '99
Interview

JanCyberC: Hi Ed, glad to have you with us tonight. How did you first become interested in Horror fiction, and when did you first begin writing it?
EdGorman: My first interest in horror fiction dates back to the late 1940s and the movies of the era. I particularly recall the Val Lewtin movies, especially "Isle of The Dead" with Karloff because it dealt with being buried alive. It also dealt, in a way no other horror movie ever has, with the simple finality of death. Some of my earliest stories were horror. This was back in sixth grade.
JanCyberC: Thanks Ed. You were/are a columnist for Cemetery Dance Magazine... how did you get involved with them and what was the theme of your column?
EdGorman: I think the column has faded into the sunset. I met Rich Chizmar long ago when he first started CD and he asked me to do a topical column about writing and publishing.
JanCyberC: So it's a past tense article then...but it was about the art of writing. How did you first learn about the 999 Horror Anthology, and did you write "Angie" specifically for this anthology?
EdGorman: The editor Al Sarrantonio asked me to write a story for the book. I wrote "Angie" specifically for him. I've known a number of Angies in my life and wanted to get one down on paper before I forgot my feelings on the subject.
JanCyberC: So Angie is based on a real person, or a group of people?
EdGorman: She's aspects of several different women.
JanCyberC: Thanks Ed ... You write Horror Novels under the pseudonym Daniel Ransom. How did you choose this name and why?
EdGorman: I actually don't recall how the name came about. Daniel is my brother's name. I liked the sound of Ransom. And there you go. My first publisher didn't want me to use my real name because it was associated with mysteries. So I came up with old Daniel.
JanCyberC: That's interesting Ed, because it leads into my next question ... You've also written Mystery, Thriller and Western stories. Are all of these genres connected for you in some way, or is one genre just too confining?
EdGorman: I grew up when the pulps were just fading. There were enough of them left that I read widely in mystery, sf/horror and westerns. During the Fifties all three of these genres were movie staples, too. I enjoy working in all three genres, probably because they were among my first influences.
msff: Why did you decide to do a horror anthology when the pundants are bemoaning the "death of horror fiction", esp the short fiction?
EdGorman: Al Sarrantonio--a great guy and great writer--conceived the anthology and was nimble enough to sell it. Is horror really dead? I doubt it. For the last eight, nine years the western was also called dead. Now several publishers are picking up the genre again. I hope the same happens with horror.
dreamer: Seems that with the millennium coming up horror should have more than half a chance...
EdGorman: I hope so. But who knows. Next year nurse romance-science fiction-bronc buster novels may be in vogue.
msff: Do you see any surge in pub house wanting horror? I mean now, with the new millennium and all.
JanCyberC: Ed, do you feel there's a slide away from Horror these days?
EdGorman: Sure there's a slide away from horror. The last several teen horror flicks haven't made much money and most publishers run away screaming if you even mention the word.
msff: Do you feel the pub houses may be out of touch? I mean there are so many small press Terrorzines.
EdGorman: Sure. Publishing houses are terribly out of touch. They all want blockbusters and shun the smaller, steadier profits. Packaged and promoted properly, I'm sure a thoughtful line of fresh new horror novels--no same old same old--could become a steady profit center.
starlit: I rather suspect that doesn't just apply to horror publishers
msff: Then what do we do, Mr. Gorman? How can we reach the pub house to let them know there is a market out here? Besides buy 999, :-), which I intend to do.
EdGorman: Good question. They're so fixated on blockbusters, I doubt they'd listen to anything you had to say. As with the early 70s when Blatty published THE EXORCIST, just one huge best seller might turn their attention back to the horror genre.
jo: But what about S. King. He's horror and BIG. surely, they see that his work sells and they can't be dumb enough to think that no other horror would be block busters
EdGorman: King is and isn't horror. He's America's storyteller and unique in all respects. His huge audience--and that includes me--will buy, read and enjoy anything he cares to write. He and Dean Koontz are the exceptions to the rule.
starlit: it's the same sort of mentality rife in Hollywood these days
msff: What about the Relic? Wasn't that a big block-buster? Scared me!
jo: ahh, but is there anything the reading public can do to show that we do like the genre as much as the writers and Koontz is my personal favorite.
EdGorman: Well, actually, he doesn't write horror. Every book of his has a scientific basis in known science. PHANTOMS and THE MASK are the only true Koontz horror novels I'm aware of. And PHANTOMS, by my reckoning, is actually sf.
JanCyberC: Ed...do you feel the publishing houses are taking a page from Hollywood's book? That is following Hollywood's lead about what is and isn't horror, instead of determining that for themselves?
EdGorman: RELIC sold extremely well but stiffed as a movie which I believe slowed the momentum of the novels that followed. But Preston and Child are good writers and are doing very very well. Again, there are a few scattered exceptions but they aren't meaningful to the boys and girls in the boardroom.
JanCyberC: Ed, you've edited some horror anthologies in the past...any plans to do that in the future? Or does that come under the future projects ban?
EdGorman: Nope. I'd be happy to talk about future anthologies if there were any. In my own life...a horror-sf story of mine "To Fit The Crime" has just been optioned by former NBC programmer Warren Littlefield as a TV project. That's a plug folks.
msff: Job Well Done!
Marv: Good deal!
jo: Good for you
JanCyberC: Folks, Ed's going to have to take off now...so let's thank him for joining us tonight.
jo: Thank you, Ed.
Marv: Thanks, ED!
msff: thank you, Mr. Gorman
dreamer: thanks
dreamer: before you go do you have a beard?
msff: Looking forward to 999
EdGorman: Do I have a beard? Only on top of my head.
EdGorman: Goodnight!
Marv: ROFL!
dreamer: teehee

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