Interview with Edward Lee

INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD LEE

The author of over fifty books, Edward Lee positions himself at the peak of our horror community. Thank you so much for being here with us!!

 

To start the engine, can you tell us who is Edward Lee in two lines?

EL: Edward Lee is a 62 year old American novelist who has been writing since 1982 and has been lucky enough to have over fifty books published in this nutty field.

Among all your works, which piece is your favourite, the star?

EL: Difficult question.  My favourite concept was that of City Infernal, but my personal favorite mass-market books was its sequel, Infernal Angel.

But these days I’m known mostly for my harder core books, and of those, I really like Haunter of the Threshold, The Pig, and Going Monstering.  

When you finish answering this interview, you go outside and find a lottery ticket worth ten million dollars. What’s the first thing you would do?

EL: Simple.  I’d take a cab to the airport, get a direct flight to Boston, check into the Klimpton Onyx Hotel, and go immediately to a restaurant called Saltie Girl and eat four types of sea urchin, blowtorched salmon belly, tons of Ipswich clams, jack-knife clams, fresh Jonah Crab claws, monkfish liver and much else.  Yes.  That is what I would do.

Between all the covers of your books, which one is your favourite?

EL: Very hard to say because I’ve loved most of them.  Probably Minotauress, done by artist Erik Wilson.

Coffee or wine?

EL: Neither!  Hate ‘em both.  I drink Diet Coke and Heineken Light!

Batman or Spiderman? Hellboy is taken.

EL: Batman, without a doubt.  I was reading Batman in the early 60s when it was a riveting pyscho-drama.  Batman was always an inch away from going completely over the deep end and becoming as insane as his adversaries.

How do you relax?

EL: Every night I watch mostly crappy horror movies on Amazon Prime and drink beer.  Ah, the good life!

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learnt during your career as a writer?

EL: The Universal Advice: Only write the kind of book you’d want to read.  NEVER write a book just because you think it’ll be marketable and you’ll get rich.

[bctt tweet=”‘Every night I watch mostly crappy horror movies on Amazon Prime and drink beer.  Ah, the good life!’ Edward Lee @edwardleeauthor @necrobedlam” username=”theboldmom”]

Pineapple in pizza?

EL: Unless it’s a damn fruit salad, I hate fruit on food.  Don’t put fruit on my pizza, on my steak, on my fish–EVER.  If I order the Roast duck and WON’T be with the friggin’ mango chutney or ridiculous raspberry sauce!  And fruit in beer is SACRILEGE!

What inspires you the most?

EL: These days?  Simply waking up, looking out the window, and seeing that the world’s still turning and realizing that my fat ass is STILL ALIVE.  Thank you, God!  That’s the greatest inspiration!

How is your writing process?

EL: It’s changed as I’ve gotten older.  In younger days I’d write 1500 words a day or more.  Then that came down to 1000 a day. But the older you get the less creative energy you have at disposal.  Now I write 500 a day about five days a week.  But that still is a satisfactory clip.

Best movie ever?

EL: Best movie ever made?  Probably Citizen Kane or Heston’s Ben-Hur.  My favorite?  Damn, maybe Paul Naschy’s Horror Rises from the Tomb, or Franco’s Virgin Amoung the Living Dead, or The House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price.

What’s the worst joke you have ever heard?

EL: How do you sneak up on celery?  You stalk.

What’s the best part of publishing a book? The most exciting?

EL: Getting paid!  What else!  Of course, back in the old days, the best part was walking into a book store and seeing YOUR BOOK sitting there with all the others.  But, alas, the bookstores are all gone now, devoured by Amazon.

Who is your support, back up or muse?

EL: H.P. Lovecraft and M.R. James.  I read a passage from one of these two gentlemen EVERY NIGHT.

Could you tell us an event in your life (related to your career as a writer) which marked a “before and after”?

EL: Two years ago, I went to the Leipzig Book Fare with my German publisher Frank Festa.  I was feeling old, tired, burned out, and felt certain that no fans would come to see me. 

Instead, I was mobbed by hundreds of fans for 3 days, sold books to at least a thousand people, there were several women there so nervous about meeting me they were crying and unable to talk. 

It was just little old me sitting there, not Bon Jovi. It was about the most ego-bolstering experience of my life, and it proved to me that even after four decades of writing, I’M STILL STANDING!

Favourite actress and actor?

EL: Wow, off the top of my head: Charles Bronson in Death Wish or Mickey Rourke in Rumblefish;  and Diana Scarwid in Psycho III, a picture-perfect performance.

What’s your view on aliens?

EL: I worship a number of them: Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth, and the great Cthulhu who lay dead dreaming.

Freddy or Jason?

EL: Jason, for sure.  He’s much grittier, much more macabre.

[bctt tweet=”Freddy or Jason? Edward Lee: Jason, for sure.  He’s much grittier, much more macabre.@necrobedlam @edwardleeauthor” username=”theboldmom”]

What are you working on?

EL: White Trash Gothic Part 3.  This will be the end of my White Trash saga.  White Trash Gothic Part 2, I’m assured, will be released by the end of August (it’s a doozy). 

My novella In The Year of Our Lord 2202 is out now, and there’s a new hardcore novella by me coming out in less than a month from Necro in an anthology called Polish Extreme. 

It’s…really cool!  After WTG3, I suspect I’ll proceed mainly with novellas and some collaborations.  I looked in my IDEA file the other day and found it stuffed with tons of cool stuff I’d forgotten about!

Are you a summer or winter person?

EL: I grew up in Maryland which boasts the WORST of all four seasons and is highlighted by winters loaded with ice storms and lots of snow to shovel. That’s why I moved to Florida, and its perpetual summers!

Do you ever handwrite your manuscripts?

EL: I recall handwriting some passages for Incubi in my favorite bar in the ‘80s in Annapolis, a place called The Ram’s Head (I believe it still stands).   I think I still even have the spiral notebooks.  But that’s about it.

Do you have a lifetime project going on or in mind?

EL: Strangely, no.  Which seems strange now that I think of it.

Do you have a favourite artist? Musician?

EL: Joy Division and/or Vivaldi.  I can listen to either constantly.  But I must mention, during the recent Killer Con in Austin, Texas (105 degrees every day!) I met a writer named Jeremy Wagner who is also part of a metal band called Broken Hope, so I went on Youtube and listened to their work and it was some absolutely outstanding metal.

What’s your favourite quote and why.

EL: “Every day above ground is a good day.”  I guess that’s universal but I got it from Scarface.

What’s the last book and album you purchased?

EL: Last book: Porn Star Retirement Plan by John Wayne Comunale, about as off the wall as you can get!  Last album?  You asked.  This Way/The Shivering Man by B.C. Gilbert and Graham Lewis (from Wire).  It’s wonderful industrial abstraction from the early ‘80s.

[bctt tweet=”What’s your favourite quote and why. // Edward Lee: ‘Every day above ground is a good day.’  I guess that’s universal but I got it from Scarface. @necrobedlam @edwardleeauthor” username=”theboldmom”]

Do you like photography? If so, what kind of? For example, I love taking photographs of old buildings and statues in black and white.

EL: Oh, I do indeed like photography and videography.  Check out my DVD called The Walking Woman that’s available from Amazon. 

It might not be very good but it has 72 naked women in it, and I paid each and every one of them $100 an hour! Serious.  For 3 years I had my own mini-film company called City Infernal Films and sold short horror skits via Vimeo On Demand (and actually made money!) But a month ago they kicked me off and banned me for life because all of a sudden they condemned my work as too explicit.

The insult to injury is Vimeo KEPT my last month’s On Demand payment, over a hundred bucks!  Oh, well, what can the Little Guy do against the Big Corporation? Lately, I’m doing some macabre still photography and time-lapse clips, as a hobby.

What’s the most beautiful landscape you’ve witnessed?

EL: I can’t recall a landscape but the most beautiful city-scape I’ve seen was that of Nurnberg, Germany during Christmastime, at night, in the late ‘70s.  I was stationed there in the U.S. Army.  Gorgeous.  Wroclaw, Poland is also a beautiful spectacle at night: hip, modern architecture next to Eastern Bloc architecture next to 800 year old churchs, all lit up.  The epitome of made-made beauty.

 

 

Do you remember your dreams?

EL: Regrettably, yes.  You think a horror writer would have NIGHTMARES but I almost never so.  Instead, I’m plagued with dreams that are SO SILLY I wake up infuriated.  I had a recurring one last night where people were turning into rotisserie chickens.  The stuff I dream is just plain ridiculous!

[bctt tweet=”‘You think a horror writer would have NIGHTMARES but I almost never so.  Instead, I’m plagued with dreams that are SO SILLY I wake up infuriated.’ Edward Lee @necrobedlam @edwardleeauthor” username=”theboldmom”]

Moto or car?

EL: Neither.  I’m a terrible driver because I don’t pay attention to the road; instead, I’m always thinking about my current project.  Got rid of my last car over 20 years ago and don’t regret it.  No more road rage, flat tires, Jiffy Lube, outrageous insurance, etc.  The bus is just fine with me, along with my own two feet!

What was your favourite book as a kid?

EL: Where the Wild Things Are.  Captivated me.

How is the best way of contacting you?

EL: Leseym1163@aol.com but PLEASE don’t ask me to read your book, blurb your book, or listen to ideas for collaboration.  I get way to much of that, and I simply don’t have time.  But I do very much appreciate the support of all of my fans, and am always happy to hear from them.

Where can readers find your work?

EL: Where else?  Amazon.  Everything is there.  Also Necropublications.com, Eraserhead/Deadite Press, and Section31productions.com.

Do you recommend a book of yours in special? Where should we start reading your work?

EL: City Infernal is my most accessible novel I think, and it’s pretty cool.  If you like hardcore horror, start with The Bighead.  Trust me.

Do you like videogames? Or role games?

EL: I got addicted to that stuff in the early ‘90s with Doom, Duke Nukem, Quake, etc.  It’s too much fun, so I refuse to go near it now because it would eat up all my writing time.

Have your expectations as a writer changed along your career?

EL: No.  Since Day One, all I ever wanted to be was a full-time horror novelist, and for some reason, I got that and still have it.  I’m VERY fortunate.

What’s “that” mistake you wouldn’t make again if you started from scratch?

EL: in Writing?  Probably nothing ‘cos it all went great and still is.  In general, my biggest mistake was lighting my first cigarette.  It’s a chump-change addiction manufactured by Lucifer himself!  Don’t smoke!

 

Thank you so much for your time.

EL: And thank you for this opportunity!

[bctt tweet=”Interview with Edward Lee!! – TBM Horror Experts @necrobedlam @edwardleeauthor #HorrorCommunity #horror #writer #writingcommunity” username=”theboldmom”]