Cold Flesh: Ask Marc Paoletti, Nov. 14-19

[hugonian]

Session: Marc Paoletti, Nov. 14-19

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: Marc Paoletti “Colder Still” is a graduate student at Columbia College earning his MFA in fiction. Before moving to Chicago, he wrote advertising copy in Los Angeles. In addition, he worked in the film industry as a licensed special effects pyrotechnician (he blew things up and got paid for it). His recent fiction can be found in the anthologies Hair Trigger 27, The Book of Voices, My Angels and My Demons at War, The Blackest Death Volume 2 and the forthcoming Thou Shalt Not and The Best Uunderground Fiction Volume 1.

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.

Marc,

Have you ever named one of your zombies "Frank?"

What about a story of three guys that spend the night on a roof, only to awake as zombies - good plot?

Congrats on the "featured author" thing!

-Ed

[shamblingstepzombie]

Marc;



Colder Still is one of my favorite stories in Cold Flesh. Samantha was just a regular human right?

Originally Posted by SactoEJ

Marc,

Have you ever named one of your zombies "Frank?"

What about a story of three guys that spend the night on a roof, only to awake as zombies - good plot?

Congrats on the "featured author" thing!

-Ed

Zombies freak me out, man.

Marc,

Your story, Colder Still, was my hands-down favorite from COLD FLESH. I read it twice and it was even better the second time!

Colder Still has a particularly strong theme. Care to comment on that?

Also, do you have anything in the pipeline? Novels?

Have you ever performed a test to see what will kill a zombie?

We all know that shooting them in the head works.

But how about storing them in Pepsi? Or throwing them off the Watt Avenue Bridge? Or how about making them run across a busy street?

Enquiring minds want to know. I bet you could come up with at least.... oh let's say..... 10 tests to see what would kill a zombie.

All you need is a video camera, a clipboard, and some lab coats....

Bubba

Originally Posted by SactoEJ

Marc,

Have you ever named one of your zombies "Frank?"

What about a story of three guys that spend the night on a roof, only to awake as zombies - good plot?

Congrats on the "featured author" thing!

-Ed

With a name like Frank, he’d be batted around like a piñata. As far as the roof, that’s just plain silly.

Thanks, pal.

Originally Posted by shamblingstepzombie

Marc;



Colder Still is one of my favorite stories in Cold Flesh. Samantha was just a regular human right?

I appreciate that, man.

Samantha was a zombie with human consciousness...a trait that ties in with the theme. Disgusting subject matter aside, “Colder Still” is one of the most nihilistic stories I’ve written. I wanted to convey a theme of isolation...physical, emotional, and spiritual. That is: Everyone lives alone and dies alone. The universe is chaotic and cruel. Not all sacrifices are noble. Not all effort is rewarded.

So we’ve got the barren wasteland. We’ve got Samantha’s consciousness trapped in a decaying shell. We’ve got Samantha destroying symbols of love (husband) and rebirth (unborn child). We’ve got her betrayal by generational wisdom (grandfather). We’ve got her fellow townspeople dying along in the dark. The only creatures who work together are without conscience and consume wantonly (zombies and wolves).

This is what happens when you have a minor in English Lit.

Do I believe in all this depressing stuff? Nah. I think the world is a great place, full of great people, and that sacrifices are always rewarded in some way. But these beliefs wouldn’t make a very interesting horror story.

Originally Posted by Yeoman Rand

Zombies freak me out, man.

If you mean zombies scare you, I think that’s what Paul Fry had in mind. If you mean they help you get your freak on, well...

Originally Posted by Tomb Rogue

Marc,

Your story, Colder Still, was my hands-down favorite from COLD FLESH. I read it twice and it was even better the second time!

Colder Still has a particularly strong theme. Care to comment on that?

Also, do you have anything in the pipeline? Novels?

Wow, thanks for the compliment. As far as the pipeline: “Twenty Minutes” will appear soon in a hardcover antho entitled THE BEST UNDERGROUND FICTION VOLUME ONE. Contributors include Irvine Welsh (of Trainspotting fame), Pulitzer Prize-nominated horror maestro Mort Castle, Elizabeth Crane and Anthony Doerr. I feel lucky to be in such distinguished company. I think it’s a limited print run...only 300 numbered copies. “The Day the Radio Did Most of the Talking” will appear in the antho THOU SHALT NOT, due out in early 2006. As far as novels: I have an action thriller making the rounds with agents, and started outlining the first book in a crime series, which I plan to start writing in mid-December.

Thanks for noticing the theme. See my pompous, long-winded response above for details.

Originally Posted by Fleshrot

Have you ever performed a test to see what will kill a zombie?

We all know that shooting them in the head works.

But how about storing them in Pepsi? Or throwing them off the Watt Avenue Bridge? Or how about making them run across a busy street?

Enquiring minds want to know. I bet you could come up with at least.... oh let's say..... 10 tests to see what would kill a zombie.

All you need is a video camera, a clipboard, and some lab coats....

Bubba

10 Tests...hmmm...those would have to include tossing them in a blender, crushing them with rocks, skewering them with darts...yes, I think drowning them in Pepsi would work...as would dunking them in chocolate pudding...or tying them to a chair and leaving them in the middle of the street...the mind reels.

And what kind of name is Bubba, anyway? Pretty nondescript. You might as well have a name like John Doe or Mike Smith.

[hugonian]

Marc, in general, how do you generate story ideas?

Originally Posted by Paoletti

If you mean zombies scare you, I think that’s what Paul Fry had in mind. If you mean they help you get your freak on, well...

It's the personal hygiene thing, for one. And they're so blatantly inconsiderate. Like, if you went away on a trip for the summer, you could totally expect that they would break into your place while you were gone and throw zombie parties - sometimes known as "gatherings" - and make a huge mess of the place. I mean, as IF.

Mr. Paoletti,

Sweet story...how Samatha delt with those last few wolves was something I definitly didn't expect. Alot of horror, be it in the movies or in print, just doesn't seem to surprise these days. Props for throwing us a curve and keeping us guessing with this one.

Also, I remember reading your illustrated story in 'Weird Business' and wondering when we'd see more of the same. (That was you, right?) Good stuff, really good. Are you following that up? Perhaps something else is on the horizon you can expand on?

Keep up the great work.

Originally Posted by hugonian

Marc, in general, how do you generate story ideas?

That’s a good question. Hmm. The idea for “Colder Still” came when I was perusing the library shelves and found a book entitled The Downed Pilot’s Handbook for Survival in Severe Weather Conditions. The theme and characters grew from there. My finished novel takes place in Hollywood, where I used to live and work, and my recent story in The Book of Voices loosely traces my Italian heritage. And, come to think of it, I wrote a story with Chris Lacher (Jesus G. mentioned it in his blog) entitled “Rednecks Who Kill Zombies, On The Next Geraldo” which was inspired by our favorite yellow journalist. I guess that’s a roundabout way of saying my ideas (usually) come from triggers in real life as opposed to striking out of thin air. Although the novel I’m working on currently has nothing to do with any real-life triggers that I can think of, which leaves only the deep, dark psychological ones. Well, whatever works.