IamA Army Veteran, Author and Editor of Two Recently Released Anthologies of Stories About Magick and Superheroes (Not at the Same Time) AMA!

As a fellow army vet and comic nerd does it drive you nuts too the military is almost always assholes in comics?

Yeah. I also read a lot of apocalyptic fiction, and those authors don't always paint us in a good light, either. :P

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I take that quote to mean that the Duke felt the idea of "white supremacy" would be eroded by the increased opportunities for education minorities would win as years progressed. A good thing, you know?

Couldn't tell you, man. Feel free to post the link. I don't remember it, but it doesn't seem particularly inflammatory.

I went to Korea and am a gulf war veteran with the army also. Thank you for your service.

Could you tell us a little bit about being "raised around magick and ritual as a child"?

Why do you think people find it necessary to wish for or fantasize about having special powers? (Super hero stuff and magick) Does it help with a fear of not being in control of things?

I usually trot out this 2011 interview I did when people ask me about being raised around magick. Feel free to ask more about anything specific.

I guess control issues could be part of why people might fantasize about having magical or super powers. Or because they want to be special. I don't know too many people who would pass up the opportunity if it was something that could actually happen. I'd say the spread of superheroes to the Hollywood mainstream says it's rooted far more in our collective subconscious that simple geek fantasy.

Why did you put a k on the end of magic?

Old habit. I used to study/practice Wicca and Ceremonial Magick, and they tend to spell it that way to differentiate it from "magic," which usually means either sleight of hand or fantasy wizard stuff.

Well done, sir - living the dream. :) Since you're a vet with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, I'd love to share my apocalyptic fiction that actually paints the military in a good light. My question is - how did you get around to getting Ragnarock to pay attention to you? Did you build the audience first or did you submit your stuff directly? I'm always fascinated by an author's journey and I'd like to hear yours.

Most of what you're looking for is probably here...I've just posted that, and if you want to know anything more specific, fire away!

What is your favourite type of pie?

Pizza pie. Not a big dessert guy.

When you first shot a gun, was it scary at all?

Oh, yeah. My first time ever firing a gun was the M16 semiauto, in basic training. When they're instructing you in the fundamentals of marksmanship, they even discuss trigger squeeze and not anticipating the recoil...that you should be a bit surprised yourself when the gun does go off, because anticipation will make you flinch and, naturally, miss your mark.

Tell Gammon about the hand grenades. Yes, I got chalk on my helmet...

Hand grenades were more fun. If it goes off near you, you're doing it wrong. :)

What drew you to writing about superheroes specifically?

TL;DR: I love superheroes.

Having said that, I feel prose is a great medium for killer hero stories. In the intro to the anthology, I point out that a lot of the stuff that happens in comics with regards to characters not dying--or staying dead--has to do with keeping the comic going, not wanting to get rid of something that an investment's been made in, etc.

With prose, you can get the reader to invest the same, but not have to worry about selling comics decades down the road, so you can end up with more authentic and logical tales. That right there was the drive behind putting CORRUPTS? together. And that same sort of mindset informs the superhero pieces I write from time to time.

If you could fist fight any famous author in the history of literature who would it be?

Hemingway. :D

pridiction on the future of the army ?

Speaking as a private citizen and not based on any inside knowledge, I'm thinking more automated, drone-type stuff, maybe protective suits for ground forces once costs lower. I wouldn't mind a more co-ed force, a'la Starship Troopers.

CQ NCO checking in. Only 11 hrs left. Do you write on 24hr duty?

Most of the time, yes. Though if I don't get it in during the first 14 hours or so, I'm probably better off waiting until after I take a nap the next day. =P

I've been writing as a pastime for a few years, mainly to fill travel/downtime involved in my own trips to Afghanistan, etc., but never with any intent to publish. A few co-workers asked me if they could read some of the stuff I've written, and told me that I should consider publishing.

Can you talk about how you broke into publishing your stuff? Did you start self-publishing on Amazon, or go another route?

Well, what I did was start working my way up from the very bottom...free-zines mostly (online websites paying only in 'exposure' to their fanbases) whose readerships ranged from a couple thousand perhaps to maybe only their mother. I published something every month for my entire first year of an author, but I wouldn't say I published WELL, yanno?

When I had about ten published shorts out there, I put them together in a collection and shopped that around to a few places before placing it with a small publisher I caught wind of on MySpace in 2008. They're out of business now and the book is out of print. A review of that book by another author led to me publishing a second collection with his start-up publisher in 2009. That book is now also out of print. I've parlayed that into increasingly-better opportunities with increasingly-successful publishers.

I do self-publish a bit here and there. I've done the occasional short story on Amazon for .99, and one time me and three friends self-pubbed a novella collection (my contribution to which later anchored my most recent collection, QUEEN & OTHER STORIES ). Most recently, I've dipped my toes into Wattpad a bit with a serial novel I'll be posting the second quarter of soon.

What do you think of people that are not willing to fight for their country?

I have so much respect or people who go and fight, because honestly I don't think I could do it. It takes balls much bigger than I have. Not saying if shit hit the fan and WW3 started I wouldn't be somehow motivated, but right now I'll just let guys with the balls of steel do it.

Not everyone's suited for it, so I don't think less of people. We all know folks we wouldn't want walking around with guns or representing us on a world stage. You wouldn't want ME fixing your car, playing pro ball or cutting rap albums either...trust me. Military work's a skillset. I judge people far more if they're unwilling to get a job and earn their keep in general.

Hello! Here are my questions: 1, Did your family members read your books? 2,If someone wants to adapt your books for films, and they allow you to choose actors, which star would you like to choose to be the leading role in your film?

1. A couple cousins, maybe my daughter.

2. That would be tough. I'd like Robin Lord Taylor for my body hopping killer in SKINJUMPER, but we'd still need additional actors for the other bodies.

Which story that you have written is your favorite, why is it, and have you ever considered writing a sequel to it?

There is a story in my most recent collection, NICE TO MATTER, about a superhero cop's prostitute sidekick. I wrote it a few years ago, and it's been published a few times, but I seriously want to build on the superhero world I seeded there.

I dread asking this, however, have you ever experienced PTSD?

I really don't know. My wife has a master's in Psych and thinks its possible, but my life before the military wasn't stellar, so...yanno, no baseline. But none of the classic external symptoms.

wait wait wait...do you actually still believe in "Wicca and Ceremonial Magick"?
As a follow-up question, do you believe your books are true stories?

I don't discount it, and I believe many of the world's belief systems offer various ways their practitioners may influence the world around them. Science doesn't necessarily disagree, either (see, Quantum Physics).

And of course, I don't believe my books are true stories. There's much more scary and shocking things going on in the world today than the stuff I write about.

What's the weirdest experience of being in the army?

That's a tough one. I have lots of funny stories, especially working for a few years around new recruits fresh out of basic and here for their job training. Saw a guy lock-and-load his weapon in front of a promotion board because he wasn't paying attention...then there was the girl who was shagging a dude in a porta-john in Kuwait the night her husband's platoon hit ground...the Iraqi kids who inadvertantly opened a rations box containing a fresh, hot deuce...

How about a funny story?

Alright. So, back in '04, my unit was convoying from Kuwait into Baghdad. Took about two days. We didn't really stop unless we had to. I'd even mastered the art of pissing into a bottle while driving, smoking a cigarette and poking my rifle out the window at the same time, by the end of this drive.

Unfortunately, no one had figured out how to SHIT while doing all of this. So, during one of our infrequent stops, while most of us were pulling security around the convoy and/or stretching their legs, the guy in the truck in front of me pulled out an empty MRE (field rations) box and proceeded to take a shit.

Now, the place where we'd stopped was outside a village, and there were numerous children and a few goatherds in the vicinity. Like most Iraqis during Saddam's rule, they were hungry. When my buddy finished dropping his deuce, he folded up the flaps and rolled the box downhill. I mean, he wasn't gonna put it back in the truck, you know?

Several Iraqi children came running toward what they assumed was a full box of good food. We waved them off, but you know that only lasted until we were gone. And yes, we rolled them a box of actual rations when we realized what we'd just done, but that still probably didn't stop them from opening the OTHER one, too. >_<

Thank you for your service! So my question is Favorite superhero of all time? And also favorite comic cover?

Favorite hero? Too tough! I've always been die-hard for Marvel and especially the X-Men, though. Favorite cover? The chromium cover for X-Men: Alpha, kicking off the Age of Apocalypse. I loved the redesigns!

What do you think of AK47?

I prefer the M-16, simply out of habit. I've never fired the AK, though. I'd give it a go.

How do you find the authors for your anthologies? Do you have an open story call? Do you go through a publisher, or are self-published?

Mixture of open subs and solicitations, for both. And I've done both traditional and self-pubbing!

You're a grandpa. How do you stay so young!? You on that juice, LC?

Booze.

Have you written any pieces which delve into civil/military relations and the differences between paramilitary, mercenary, and conventional forces?

Haven't written much about the military. My one published piece in that vein is in a Springsteen-themed crime antho and involves a veteran running cross-state to avenge a would-be lover's murder.

Are you still studying occult magick? I'm a wiccan that has been practicing for 5 years and I'm interested if you've used witchcraft during your time in the military.

Edit: clarified magick

I haven't in quite some time, though I've just bought a house, inherited two large shelves of books from the previous owner, and probably won't leave them unread.

As far as witchcraft during my time in the military; for the first five years, about...yes. Fort Hood actually had a great Open Circle (don't know what it's like now, since I left in '05) and I'm still friends with the lady who runs/ran the Temple of Ancient Wisdom in Copperas Cove. When I was deployed to Iraq, I ran an Open Circle on my FOB and did a lot of Tarot reading and meditation instruction.

Have you seen American sniper? If so, what's your opinion of it?

I'm sure I will. Just haven't made time for the movie theater recently. Missus and I both want to though, so worst case, when it hits the dollar movie down the road in a month or so.

I'm guessing you've seen it. Does it live up to the hype?

Do you incorporate 350-1 training into your writing?

Newp.

How does it feel to help destabilize a region, and how does it feel to kill a bunch of innocent people? Congrats on your stupid books though

If you think that region has been stable any time in the past 1000 years, you're out of your mind. And of course, like anyone else I might not agree with my employer all the time, every day. But I don't need to hide behind a throwaway s/n, either.

The name is ironic. You can look into it and see its not actually one.

But unlike you, I do not need to spend billions on killing kids in third world countries

If I had a billion dollars, I wouldn't spend it on killing kids in third world countries.

I'd be Batman.