Cold Flesh: Ask Gene Stewart, Oct. 31 - Nov. 5

[hugonian]

Session: Gene Stewart, Oct. 31 - Nov. 5

Instructions: Post a question for the author and wait for a reply. From Monday to Saturday, the author will peek in periodically to answer questions. If the author cannot answer your question before time expires, feel free to PM the author with your question.

This week’s author: Gene Stewart “Zombie Love” was born on the 146th birthday of Charles Dickens in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He began writing eight years later and publishing three years after that.

Editor Jeanne Cavelos favorably compared one of his unpublished short novels, Box Set, to J. D. Salinger’s work, while writer Harlan Ellison has called his work “Scintillant.”

Stewart’s fiction spans many styles and genres but hallmarks of his work include compassion for the common man; themes of doubt, paranoia, and the discovery of hidden worlds or agendas; and the integrity of the individual when faced with astounding events or intense challenges.

In 1980 he married his fiancee, who had just joined the US Air Force. For the next twenty-two years they traveled all over the United States, experiencing the deserts of Texas, the beaches of coastal Mississippi, the swampland of Georgia, the valleys of Ohio, and the prairies and high plains of Nebraska. In addition, they enjoyed extended stays in Japan and Germany.

His family includes three sons and two lively terriers. He currently lives in the American midwest, where he is researching and writing a novel of ancient sins, modern lies, and eternal truths.

Please visit his website, www.genestewart.com.

Q&A Schedule: See when other authors will be available--schedule of authors

Cold Flesh info: For more info regarding Cold Flesh, such as reviews and updates, please visit the official thread or the official website.

I really get into the zombie love stuff, and I'd like to see something *really*
outre, like maybe a zombie mermaid, or a zombie extee. Do you have any
plans to write something like that?

[Baron Samedi]

Originally Posted by Dian

I really get into the zombie love stuff, and I'd like to see something *really* outre, like maybe a zombie mermaid, or a zombie extee. Do you have any plans to write something like that?

Dian,

Plans g'aft agley, so instead of planning, I tend to see what crops up during conversations with the little voices in my head. Or the big ones, the ones you write down what they say automatically. (Sorry for the Palahniuk sentence; I'm reading Haunted.)

More seriously: Yes, I'm always seeking to push over any edges I find, and knock holes in boundaries. I tip fences and leave the cows alone. One of the best things about Zombie stories, and horror in general, is that exploring taboo is encouraged. That, combined with the fact that I'm North American, means mixing sex and death comes naturally.

Did you ever think all this repression and prudery actually encourages fiction to get wilder and go further?

Here are some rhetoricals that will no doubt spark some fun stories, soon:

As a good friend asked recently, is it incest if one of the participants is a zombie? Another thing that makes me wonder is whether it's satisfying for a sadist to torture flesh that cannot feel pain or die? Conversely, what would gratify a horny masochist zombie? How do brain-eating zombies get kinky, anyway? Can they? What, if any, implications are there in the phrase Dead Tired when it comes to zombie sex? Would Viagra have changed the tone of the mayhem in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD? Does HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES make zombie TV viewers flip the channel in boredom? Once everyone in a given isolated population zombifies, what happens? Does it become one slow-motion mosh pit of endless hunger? Do they eat each other? Will animals suffice? What if eating animals CHANGES the zombies?

Yes, I think it's fair to say that there are plenty of stories left for me to write, in zombie vein. Some will definitely be more outré than "Zombie Love". Thanks for liking it, and for encouraging my wild side.

I really dug this one.

He should have stuck with the burgers and shrimp, eh?

[Baron Samedi]

Originally Posted by jmeg

I really dug this one.

He should have stuck with the burgers and shrimp, eh?

LOL - yeah, he'd have been better off, but you know how it is -- curiosity, not to mention a road-weary horniness, kills the cat every time.

Glad you liked it.

I haven't had much time to check in here lately but I really enjoyed your tale. Sick but wonderful

[Baron Samedi]

Originally Posted by RonShiflet

I haven't had much time to check in here lately but I really enjoyed your tale. Sick but wonderful

Thanks -- sick but good is what we aim for. Well, often. lol

Looks like your stuff is going great, too -- lots of sales. Keep up the good work, and of you're ever tempted by a zombie, keep walking. Fast.