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| Chris Bauer Author of Scars on the Face of God: The Devil's Bible |
Horror Bound welcomes author Chris Bauer as he joins us to discuss his debut novel, Scars on the Face of God: The Devil's Bible (Drollerie Press) and the creative process.
Bauer's short fiction has appeared in the crime fiction ezine Thuglit and has been recognized by the National Writers Association, the Writers Room of Bucks County and the Maryland Writers Association. He is currently working on a paranormal mystery called Hop Skip Jump.
Would you tell us about your writing background? How did it all start?
With those damn nuns. Eight years of grammar, English composition, spelling, punctuation and penmanship. Then came the damn priests with college prep English in high school. College took me in the direction of earning a living in “business,” a more conventional and palatable path for one’s parents and one’s wallet alike. It turns out these clerics knew what they were doing and were more wonderful (and sometimes even plot-worthy as characters) than I’ve ever given them credit for. While the English-based educational skills seem to have taken, the religious instruction and religion in general came up short, and I’m probably less of a person because of this than I care to admit. Aside from watching my fingers produce corporate memo after email after PowerPoint presentation after legal contract (I’ve been a corporate desk jockey my entire adult life), I didn’t indulge myself in writing fiction on purpose until I was in my forties, when said business world pulled the rug out and I was forced to see two faces of the American corporate takeover, as acquirer and acquiree, both sides equally ugly. It prompted my immersion in developing a mainstream novel which told of shenanigans and personal heartbreak from the worker bee viewpoint, which then led to writing short stories, joining writers groups and entering contests, all geared to announce myself to the publishing world. Aside from some limited contest successes, responses to my queries from agents and publishers alike were similar: “Your novel’s too long (130,000 words) for an unknown author. What else you got?” Ouch.
Sixteen years later at age fifty-seven I was finally able to answer that question. That first attempt still languishes in a drawer not publishable in its current form. My second attempt was accepted by small press Drollerie Press, this before I had anything else published (no short stories, nothing else commercial) which, yes, may classify me and my call story as somewhat freakish. I’m now actively shopping newer short stories, had one other success recently published in the pulp fiction ezine Thuglit (“You’re a Moron,” Jan/Feb 2009 issue).
What is the creative process like for you?
Label me an opportunist. The storylines come from paying attention to one’s surroundings; being observant. They run the gamut of picking up on gems uttered by people in conversation, to oddities that appear in print, on TV, the internet, etc. I might find myself thinking ‘that was really clever’ after hearing or being exposed to something strange or wonderful or humorous, then I’ll discreetly look for a stray piece of paper and a flat surface on which to jot down what interested me; familiar territory I’m sure for many storytellers. About storylines: for me they need to be compellingly unusual or quirky, preferably both. If I’m not entertaining myself after a few sessions of outlining a plot then I shut it down. And if I make a longer commitment to a story it needs to have multiple ‘aha’ moments. While reading a piece or watching a movie I need to be surprised or shocked or blown away by something that just happened. I will work toward this end every chance I get, in every scene, every subplot, every storyline, and with every major character. I like being thrilled and strive to give the reader the same experience.
Would you tell us a bit about your interest in the horror genre itself?
I’ve heard a number of the more successful horror authors describe themselves as thriller writers, and to a large extent I agree with this assessment. Horror really shouldn’t be considered separate from the thriller genre; its antagonists are simply more nightmarish or creepy or fantastic. Aside from having read and watched a lot of horror pieces over the years, again, my interest in writing horror was a case of opportunity knocking, and like the characters in the genre itself I opened the door and entered the dark room without knowing what was in there. For me it was a frightening-looking little Chucky-like devil-baby that jumped off the page of a 13th century religious artifact known as the Devil’s Bible. And here I’ll also pay homage to the climax of the movie The Devil’s Advocate (Al Pacino, Keanu Reeves) where Mr. Pacino’s Satan attempts to convince Mr. Reeves’ character to join him in re-writing religious history or the Bible or some such equivalent metaphor. (Cue light bulb over author’s head.) It prompted an internet search on “devil’s bible” where I discovered there really was such a thing, a massive tome with an incredible 600-year history including a legend of demonic origin. With pictures. “Jackpot,” the author remembers saying.
What's the hardest thing about the process of writing a book?
There’s always the rewrite, a daunting aspect of transitioning one’s efforts into something publishable because like most writers I’m partial to every word and scene I create, plus I’m so drained by novel’s end that the need to re-think a character or plotline or scene can seem overwhelming. For me it’s also difficult adhering to the KISS principle of ‘keep it simple, stupid,’ when I know not doing so only takes longer to get to the super fantastic action packed wonderfully clever climax that I want the reader to experience. I tend to weave multiple plots into a novel, and keeping them in step with each other until they come together in the last few chapters does add a degree of difficulty that I hope the reader finds has been worth the trouble.
What inspired the creation of Scars on the Face of God?
I’d just finished reading Jonathan Harr’s non-fictional A Civil Action, an account of environmental abuses by the leather tannery industry that allegedly was responsible for a large number of leukemic children clustered in the small town of Woburn, MA. My novel germinated from an oddity that was perhaps only coincidence: during my childhood, a similar cluster of children and adults in my Philadelphia city neighborhood were mentally and physically disabled. Some research told me that Philadelphia and its surrounding environs had a concentration of leather tanneries in operation in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. Couple this with my earlier comments regarding the Devil’s Bible, there was one other remaining plot piece (unmentionable here because it’s a spoiler) that fell into place while outlining the novel. Suffice it to say it came from my most trusted muse, my wife, over dinner at a local Uno’s Grill, and it was memorable enough that I didn’t need to write it down.
How do the characters manifest in your creative imagination?
I typically know them beforehand. A gruff uncle, a grade school nun, a priest projected to be of suspect moral character because of the way he manhandled the altar boys (physically and verbally, but not sexually), some disabled children I remembered from childhood, all were key to developing the characters in my debut novel.
Some say that the characters possess the writer until the book is written. Have you ever had this experience?
Absolutely. Scars on the Face of God is told in the first person by Johannes “Wump” Hozer, an uneducated sixtyish blue collar self-made man of German extraction with the proverbial heart of gold, and who has survived everything life has thrown at him: he’s the product of an orphanage, an abused child adoptee, a reformed felon, has lost a son to leukemia and has gotten very attached to two local orphans with significant handicaps. And he knows first hand of an unconscionable secret that has taken fifty years to resurface. It was so easy, and quite a pleasure, to put this man’s story on the page in his own, unpretentious voice. You know this person when you hear him speak. He’s your uncle and your father and your benevolent neighbor and your confessor, and the guy you want in your corner when you need to even some insurmountable odds.
Who has had the biggest influence on your writing style?
I’d need someone else to answer this, to inspect the words I put on the page; I’m much too close to it. Readers of course have only a few places to see my writing style currently. It has generated a few comments from reviewers who are quick to lapse into the staples of contemporary horror/thriller fiction: Koontz, King, Dan Brown (a comparison because of the religious overtone of Scars on the Face of God); there was even a Mark Twain reference. In reality I’m probably a chameleon. When something I’ve read impresses me I find myself wanting to create that same feeling, provide that same high, in my own writing.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
I’d like to think I’m author independent. I’m always looking for the title that will keep me entertained with driven plots, twists, underdog characters seemingly incapable of rising to the occasion, or characters incredibly sure of themselves who get knocked down a few pegs before they do or don’t prevail. My bookshelf, it turns out, says otherwise, that I may be an author groupie going with whoever has the hot hand: Stephen King, with hands so hot for so long there can’t be any flesh left on them; Dean Koontz with his wonderful Odd Thomas character whose POV showcases Mr. Koontz’s ability to be minimalist when necessary; Jeffrey Deaver, king of the human monster; newer authors Scott Nicholson and Jonathan Maberry. I also need to admit to two other reading passions, baseball stories and crime fiction. Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris was a very powerful baseball read for me as was Chance by Steve Shilstone, about the greatest (fictional) baseball shortstop of all time, which blew me away with its entertaining first person narrative, something I read just before I began penning my Wump Hozer character in Scars. On the crime fiction front I need to give a holler to the degenerate peeps who publish the short story ezine Thuglit. Powerful in-your-face-pulp fiction that produces multiple twists, belly laughs and severe intestinal distress per issue.
Would you tell us a bit about your upcoming book?
Hop Skip Jump is an in-progress paranormal mystery that juxtaposes two older social workers with wildly differing personal histories—one was victimized early and indelibly, never having known her mother who was lost to a drunk driver, the other a reformed lawyer who blames himself for his wife’s comatose condition and the loss of their only child at childbirth—against reincarnating entities (and a few entities not quite dead yet) who manifest benevolent intentions yet may instead have the deadliest of agendas. Timing of completion is TBD. Day job, as day jobs unfortunately are wont to do, keeps getting in the way.
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Drollerie Press (Scars on the Face of God: Publisher)
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