10 Questions with C Michael Forsyth
1. You did a stellar job in your Houdini/Arthur Conan Doyle novel. If you were to write another novel mashing up a two historic figures, who would you choose?
I was fascinated to learn that Abraham Lincoln and Karl Marx knew each other and corresponded. The Communist Manifesto was actually written BEFORE the Emancipation Proclamation. I’m not sure they ever met face to face, but if they did, imagine being a fly in that room! What the ideas they might have exchanged about the rights of laborers, and about liberty? You could have a serious drama – or you could go gonzo. What if Lincoln told Marx about the little problem he was having in the States. Who wouldn’t want to read Karl Marx, Vampire Hunter? With hammer and sickle as his tools of trade, naturally.
2. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
That sounds like the definition of Hell. Speaking of which, I suppose the correct answer is The Bible, the only book the hero takes with him at the end of The Time Machine. Enough food for thought to last a lifetime, certainly. But I’d have to go with The Magician’s Nephew, chronologically the first of the Narnia books. If I had to be immersed in any world for eternity, it would be that magical one.
3. What made you want to write a novel featuring Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle?
When I read that they were friends – and later, bitter enemies – I was intrigued, and the possibility of these two larger-than-life figures sharing an adventure, solving a mystery together, quickly seized hold of me. The more I read about Houdini, the more I realized that he was as close to a real-life superhero the world has ever known. And the more I read about Conan Doyle, what a tremendous athlete he was and what an adventurous life he’d lived, I saw that he could be more than just Houdini’s sidekick. Other than Hemingway, you couldn’t pick a writer better suited for an adventure story.
4. Do you outline prior to writing your story, or do you work out the plot as you write?
I outlined this novel, and I’ve hammered out a highly detailed outline of the book I’m currently working on. I happen to be leading a seminar on story structure this coming weekend, and I plan to use the following metaphor in explaining how helpful an outline can be. Creating an outline first vs. winging it is like the difference between setting out on a quest, with a map, and just going for a stroll. Without a map and a goal, the chances that you’ll meander, make wrong turns, come to dead ends and keep doubling back, are high.
5. What do you prefer doing, writing fiction or narrating fiction?
They are each immensely satisfying. I love the challenges of voice acting, but nothing beats creating a world of which you are both the god, and can vicariously live out the experiences of each character.
6. What current writing projects are you working on?
I’m doing another Houdini thriller, in which he battles one of history’s greatest villains. I’m also writing and drawing Night Cage, a graphic novel about vampires taking over a women’s prison. Orange is the New Black meets Salem’s Lot.
7. What type of research did you do for The Adventure of the Spook House?
The research was extensive. I read a biography of Conan Doyle as well as his autobiography and a collection of the 1,500 letters he wrote in his lifetime – a colossal number even for a time when letter-writing was a big part of life. These included letters he wrote his mother from the age of 7, when he was sent to boarding school, till he was in his 50s. From that, I got a complete picture of his thought processes and his speech patterns. For Houdini, I had to research not only biographical details but how he pulled off his escapes. By the end, I could not only recreate how each man would speak, and what he’d likely say in any situation, I had a better grasp of these characters than those I’ve actually made up! And plus, since the novel is set in 1922, so much research was needed to get right, details ranging from automobiles to airplanes.
8. Is there an overall theme to your writing?
It could be that beneath the surface of things, there are unplumbed depths. Beneath Conan Doyle’s hale and hearty, man-of-action persona, is the troubled spirit of an adult child of an alcoholic. Beneath the tranquil college campus in my horror novel Hour of the Beast is a dark, Lovecraftian netherworld.
9. Who is your current favorite living magician?
I saw David Copperfield on stage and he blew my mind.
10. If you could create a Mount Rushmore of the greatest authors in the mystery genre, which four writers would you choose?
Conan Doyle, of course. Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett and John Grisham.
I was fascinated to learn that Abraham Lincoln and Karl Marx knew each other and corresponded. The Communist Manifesto was actually written BEFORE the Emancipation Proclamation. I’m not sure they ever met face to face, but if they did, imagine being a fly in that room! What the ideas they might have exchanged about the rights of laborers, and about liberty? You could have a serious drama – or you could go gonzo. What if Lincoln told Marx about the little problem he was having in the States. Who wouldn’t want to read Karl Marx, Vampire Hunter? With hammer and sickle as his tools of trade, naturally.
2. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
That sounds like the definition of Hell. Speaking of which, I suppose the correct answer is The Bible, the only book the hero takes with him at the end of The Time Machine. Enough food for thought to last a lifetime, certainly. But I’d have to go with The Magician’s Nephew, chronologically the first of the Narnia books. If I had to be immersed in any world for eternity, it would be that magical one.
3. What made you want to write a novel featuring Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle?
When I read that they were friends – and later, bitter enemies – I was intrigued, and the possibility of these two larger-than-life figures sharing an adventure, solving a mystery together, quickly seized hold of me. The more I read about Houdini, the more I realized that he was as close to a real-life superhero the world has ever known. And the more I read about Conan Doyle, what a tremendous athlete he was and what an adventurous life he’d lived, I saw that he could be more than just Houdini’s sidekick. Other than Hemingway, you couldn’t pick a writer better suited for an adventure story.
4. Do you outline prior to writing your story, or do you work out the plot as you write?
I outlined this novel, and I’ve hammered out a highly detailed outline of the book I’m currently working on. I happen to be leading a seminar on story structure this coming weekend, and I plan to use the following metaphor in explaining how helpful an outline can be. Creating an outline first vs. winging it is like the difference between setting out on a quest, with a map, and just going for a stroll. Without a map and a goal, the chances that you’ll meander, make wrong turns, come to dead ends and keep doubling back, are high.
5. What do you prefer doing, writing fiction or narrating fiction?
They are each immensely satisfying. I love the challenges of voice acting, but nothing beats creating a world of which you are both the god, and can vicariously live out the experiences of each character.
6. What current writing projects are you working on?
I’m doing another Houdini thriller, in which he battles one of history’s greatest villains. I’m also writing and drawing Night Cage, a graphic novel about vampires taking over a women’s prison. Orange is the New Black meets Salem’s Lot.
7. What type of research did you do for The Adventure of the Spook House?
The research was extensive. I read a biography of Conan Doyle as well as his autobiography and a collection of the 1,500 letters he wrote in his lifetime – a colossal number even for a time when letter-writing was a big part of life. These included letters he wrote his mother from the age of 7, when he was sent to boarding school, till he was in his 50s. From that, I got a complete picture of his thought processes and his speech patterns. For Houdini, I had to research not only biographical details but how he pulled off his escapes. By the end, I could not only recreate how each man would speak, and what he’d likely say in any situation, I had a better grasp of these characters than those I’ve actually made up! And plus, since the novel is set in 1922, so much research was needed to get right, details ranging from automobiles to airplanes.
8. Is there an overall theme to your writing?
It could be that beneath the surface of things, there are unplumbed depths. Beneath Conan Doyle’s hale and hearty, man-of-action persona, is the troubled spirit of an adult child of an alcoholic. Beneath the tranquil college campus in my horror novel Hour of the Beast is a dark, Lovecraftian netherworld.
9. Who is your current favorite living magician?
I saw David Copperfield on stage and he blew my mind.
10. If you could create a Mount Rushmore of the greatest authors in the mystery genre, which four writers would you choose?
Conan Doyle, of course. Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett and John Grisham.
No comments have been added yet.
