Niteblade

Archive for March, 2011

F. J. Bergmann is presently living and writing in Wisconsin.  To learn more about her and her work, visit her website at http://fibitz.com/.

When did you first recognize yourself as a poet?

Probably in high school. I wrote a few poems then, one of which was published in a national anthology, and a few in college. And then I quit writing for 20 years (busy doing other stuff).

What draws you to speculative poetry?

The same things that draw me to speculative literature, which I’ve been reading all my life: boredom and a need to escape.

Is there a piece of writing advice you’ve never followed?

“Write from the heart.” With “Write what you know” coming a close second. I totally agree with Oscar Wilde, who said “All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.”

In the December 2010 issue of Niteblade, Rhonda chose to publish your poem, “The Book of Goodnight Stories.”  Is there a story behind how the poem came about?

Sure. I was at a poetry open mike in the bargain section of Barnes & Noble, sitting opposite the children’s books. Every sentence in that poem is one of those book titles. I like to use a lot of structural devices and appropriated material in my writing. Spam is especially useful.

What have you been working on lately?

I finished a chapbook of conflated-fairy-tale poems, Out of the Black Forest, due out from Centennial Press in 2011 or 2012, and a book of travel-related speculative poems, Travels in the Antipathies, which is under consideration with a UK press. I also have a collection of first-contact poems, originally chapbook-length, but becoming increasingly unwieldy. Recently I learned letterpress printing, and am hoping to start a press that will publish chapbooks by other sf authors.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with Niteblade’s readers?

Writing notably different, unusual work within the context of a speculative publication is always more of a challenge than in mainstream literary magazines. I hope that my poetry will continue to explore the unexpected, with interesting and entertaining results.

‘Technical difficulties’. Really we should call them ‘Exercises in Frustration’. Whatever you want to call them, we are having them and so the front-of-house for the website is going to be a bit erratic for the next little while. I apologise.

J. A. Tyler’s debut novel(la) Inconceivable Wilson (Scrambler Books) was released in late 2009 & was followed in 2010 by two chapbooks: The Zoo, A Going: The Tropic House (Sunnyoutside) & Our Us & We (Greying Ghost). He has several books slated for release in 2011, including A Man of Glass & All the Ways We Have Failed (Fugue State Press), In Love With a Ghost (Cow Heavy), &, with John Dermot Woods, the text / image novel No One Told Me I Would Disappear (Jaded Ibis Press).  You can learn more about J. A. at http://www.mudlusciouspress.com.

When did you first recognize yourself as a writer?

I recognized myself as a writer during the first year I began submitting, when I had a half-dozen pieces accepted and starting to appear online and in print – though whenever I see a book of mine reviewed or discussed outside of my own circles, I still have a bit of enjoyable disbelief at being one.

What draws you to speculative fiction?

I believe people perhaps miss, or mistake, that speculative fiction can work great magic on surreal and realistic works alike. Brian Evenson is a prime example – he does not really write speculative fiction, but so many elements of this genre are evident in his writing, and it is often those elements that keep you pinned to his words.

Is there a piece of writing advice you’ve never followed?

Some say that you need to write each and every day, but honestly, some days I don’t have time, can’t find time, or am at a place in my writing where it needs to sit, to stew, where it needs a day of rest. I prefer to think of it as baking bread: you work hard, sweat with the dough, then leave it to rise and run, come back later for the oven, to finalize it.

In the September 2007 issue of Niteblade (and the Lost Innocence anthology), Rhonda chose to publish your story, “Shine On”.  Is there a story behind how it came about?

At that point in time I was extremely focused on placing a single outside factor in front of a character and then writing to see what happened. In the case of ‘Shine On’, I started by turning off all the lights. What happened from there was what came from the impetus of darkness.

What have you been working on lately?

I just recently finished a surreal novel called Water, about the loss of water and then the flood and then a drying out again, a boy and a girl lost among the chaos, the static hum of a land broken down and burning. It is my longest book to date, something that was a beast to write, and something that will hopefully be a beast to read for people sometime down the line.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with Niteblade’s readers?

Read as much as you can; in my opinion, that is what makes good writers great.

Be terrified by a gore-stained lycanthrope. Be enthralled by the dangerous allure of a forest dryad. Face the ferocious menace of warg riders. Spy grim dwarfs prepared for battle. Find yourself wandering worlds of wonder and peril in the fantastic art of Andres Canals.

The art of Andres Canals is fantastic in more ways than one. Not only is Andres interested in many fantastic genres, such as urban fantasy, high fantasy, post-apocalypse, and cyberpunk, but the moods and the details in his artworks are fantastic as well. His wargs and their riders wear savage looks in a composition that deftly depicts their ferocity. His mummified guardian exudes ageless menace as she stands before an appropriately dark and mysterious passageway. Whether it is the flowers at a dryad’s feet, or the carvings on a dwarf’s shield, the finer details of Andres’s works pull the viewer deeper into his visions of fantasy and horror.

Based in the United Kingdom, Andres studied art in Dorset and Wales prior to beginning work as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. While he is certainly inspired by modern artists such as Alan Lee and Syd Mead, Andres finds there is also much to learn from past masters such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. Nature, travel, film, comics, fashion, and photography all serve as additional inspiration for his artistic creations.

Combining traditional and digital media, Andres draws pencil sketches that he then scans and paints digitally. His work has illustrated magazines, adorned role playing games, and seen use as concept art for miniatures.

More of Andres’s art can be found here:

Andres Concept Art and Illustration

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