Interview with Warren Rochelle, by Mark Allan Gunnells

Interview with Warren Rochelle
In 1998 I started my senior year of college, and was excited to take Creative Writing with Warren Rochelle. He was a great instructor and really helped me develop my writing. He's a talented author in his own right and has published several stories and novels. His latest, The Werewolf and His Boy, is a wonderful blend of horror and fantasy with a strong love story. I talked with him about the book.



Can you tell us anything about from where the initial inspiration for THE WEREWOLF AND HIS BOY sprang?

The initial inspiration sprang from a dream my partner, Gary, had some years ago about a monster lurking in the rafters at Lowe’s, a store he was frequenting for home repairs. He described the monster as a werewolf. From that came a short story, “Lowe’s Wolf,” which was published in Icarus. And from the story, the novel. At the suggestion of my Samhain editor, Lowe’s became Larkin’s.

Did you read up on werewolf lore before starting or work at creating your own version of the mythology?

Yes, I read up on werewolf lore and mythology before starting, and I also read up on wolves as well. I did tweak the werewolf lore a little. I made Henry a nonlunar voluntary werewolf, and gave him enhanced powers of camouflage. The latter I extrapolated from the ability of wolves to be sometimes hard to see in the wild.

One of the things I loved most was how you took a traditional horror trope and wove it into what is essentially a fantasy novel. Do you enjoy that kind of blending of genres?

Yes, I do enjoy blending genres, if a story calls for it. However, this particular blending was sort of unplanned. While people were scared of Henry in his wolf-form, he really wasn’t so horrifying, except perhaps when he had to defend Jamey. I think that the lines between genres are blurred anyway, and that horror, or the horrific, in particular, seems to bleed into other genres.

How long did the novel take you to write?

I should keep better track of such things! There were three drafts, done at different times. The first one, maybe a year or so. The second draft, 6 months or so, and the same for the third.

The love story aspect of the tale is very strong and ultimately imperative to the novel’s resolution. Were you making a statement on the power of love or did that just happen organically?

I have always believed that love can be one of the most powerful forces in the universe. That said, I knew from the beginning, when I wrote the short story, that the tale was a love story. The statement about the power of love, however, did happen organically in the writing of the novel. I do believe love has the power to change, and to transform society, if not the world or the universe.

Another prevailing theme is how religion can undermine a gay person’s sense of morality and worth. Was that something you plotted out from the beginning, or did that develop as the story was written?

The novel is set in an alternate universe, one in which the Watchers have been suppressing and making knowledge as inaccessible as possible (hence the fear of computers and cell phones and how expensive such things are and so on). The Watchers have also seen fit to keep people separate and to be sure scapegoats are always available. They cultivated and promoted fear of the Other. In other words, I exaggerated what exists in this universe: the misuse of religion to reinforce such fears. So, I had this notion in the beginning but it did develop as the novel progressed into what Jamey faced in his own family and what led Henry to lead much of his childhood and adolescence in the shadows.

Is there a particular sequence or aspect of the novel that is your favorite, perhaps one that was the most fun to write?

Interesting question. I really enjoyed writing the scenes set in London and Cornwall. I also enjoyed writing the dream journeys, when the boys were learning what their powers and abilities were and the scenes when they are with Loki.

The title is a play on the Narnia book The Horse and His Boy. Are you a big C.S. Lewis fan, and can you tell me what about his writing inspires you?

The title is a deliberate homage to C.S. Lewis. I’ve been a big C.S. Lewis fan since I was in the third grade and read the Narnia series for the first time. Since then, I have studied and taught C.S. Lewis and have a more nuanced view of his work, but I still love Narnia. It made a deep and lasting impression on me; Narnia is, in many ways, still Faerie to me.

What is it about C.S. Lewis’ writing that inspires me? His use of the mythical, the religious, and how it easy was to feel at home in Narnia. That he wasn’t afraid to talk about love.

Once the first draft was complete, how did you go about finding a home for the novel? What led you to Samhain?

I wasn’t so much led to Samhain as I was sent there. I first sent the novel to Blind Eye Books. The editor returned it to me with some very specific suggestions for revisions, which I did. A free-lance editor friend also reviewed it and I worked with her to make the Blind Eye changes. When I sent it back to Blind Eye, the editor decided the novel wasn’t a good fit for Blind Eye Books and suggested Samhain, in particular, her editor there. I contacted the Samhain editor and that editor reviewed the novel and offered me a contract. She also had some very specific suggestions for revisions.

How was the editorial process? Did you have to make many changes to the story?

Fun, in a weird and intense sort of way. For me, when I am working on a story, whether the first draft or in revisions, I find myself living in the story’s world, as if I were inside a continuing dream. I think this is true for many writers. The editorial process makes this story inhabiting an intense experience. One of the biggest changes was a Blind Eye one: only 3 POVs, which meant a fair bit of rewriting. There were also a fair number of small changes, fine tuning, as it were, eliminating inconsistencies, and thus being sure I was telling the truth.

Can you tell us anything about your writing process? Do you have a dedicated writing space, certain times of the day you prefer to write, that sort of thing?

I usually write in my study at home. The room is a tad messy, but it’s comfortable. Sometimes my cat, Fred, hangs out with me. Depending on the project, I will often outline first. Before I can get any story going, I have to know where it ends. I don’t mean anything specific, other than, say, a beach. Where the beach is and how the characters get there, comes later. Henry and Jamey had to be getting ready for more adventures. I had no idea where they would be when that happened or how they might get there.

I also need a beginning that feels right and true. Once I’ve figured out the beginning and the end, I can begin. As for certain times of the day, I gave that up a while ago, as my teaching schedule changes every semester. I try to write something every day, even if that means reviewing what was previously written. Revision I do just about anywhere. A big chunk of the revisions for Werewolf I did at my partner’s house. He earned the novel’s dedication!

As an aside, Gary shared that dedication with Doris Betts, my freshman English teacher at UNC-Chapel Hill. She, among other teachers I could list here, changed my life. I wish she had lived to see it.

Lastly, what future projects are brewing in that mind of yours? What can we look forward to from Warren Rochelle?

I just sent in a revised short story, “Feathers,” which will be out very soon on Second Hand Stories, a podcast. The story will be read out loud. That is a first for me. “Feathers” is part of an ongoing project a collection of gay-themed retellings of traditional fairy tales.

Another project is a long story or a novel that will be the sequel to my first novel, The Wild Boy. A hundred years have passed since the Lindauzi Suicide and slowly civilization is returning, spreading out from various centers that survived the century and a half of Lindauzi control of the Earth. One such center is in what was once central North Carolina. One day, strangers from the west, arrive, with stories that can’t be true. Surely all the alien Lindauzi are dead…

And I hope a sequel to The Werewolf and Hs Boy. I already know where both of these sequels will end.


Check out Warren here: http://warrenrochelle.umwblogs.org/20...

Posted on Mar. 14th, 2017 at 05:45 pm Link Leave a comment Share