Posted 29-APR-2005

Nancy Kilpatrick recently contributed the short story Sleepless in Manhattan to the Dark Horse Books Odder Jobs collection. To learn more about Nancy, click here.

What is it you like about Hellboy?
Hellboy is a hero to everybody who feels like an outsider, including me. There are so many of us who know we are different but are still trying to have a life. Hellboy is like that. He'll never be 'normal' and never be fully accepted by society (although his friends accept him, but then they are weird too!). Still, he keeps trying to be part of the world, despite knowing to his core that this is futile. And basically, he's a good guy with decent values. He's kind of a lovable big lug. Who could not like him? Well, maybe the bad guys…

"Sleepless in Manhattan" seems to be a story about loneliness. What does Hellboy learn from this adventure?
I think Hellboy has to be lonely. He's the only one of his kind. And like all lonely beings, he experiences moments of deep and brooding introspection when all the existential questions, from-How Did I Get Here? to the inevitable: What's It All About Anyway?--rush to his consciousness and plague him, even though he knows from experience he'll find no answers and will be lucky to snatch a moment of peace. I think that for Hellboy what he learns in "Sleepless in Manhattan" is what he always learns: there are no ultimate answers, even though he keeps searching. And also, that he has good friends who care about him and will help him, and isn't that the most important thing?

I love that you have Hellboy watching "Survivor" reruns. What other shows do you think he watches?
Hellboy, out of boredom, watches too much TV. And even with a gazillion stations to choose from, most of what he gets that is watchable is reruns. I think he likes "Survivor" because the show is often about physical stamina and making the right decisions when it's crucial-he'd watch "The Amazing Race" for the same reason. I think he likes reality shows, and old movies for the opposite reason: for the sentiment. But you know, I'm guessing the real reason he watches these shows is that he's always trying to learn about human beings, and reality shows bring out the best and the worst, though at times it seems like it's only the worst. Maybe Hellboy will go back to school and become a psychiatrist!

What is the "goth Bible"? What did you learn while writing it?
The goth Bible is a look at the goth culture worldwide. One thing I learned is that goth is much bigger than anyone imagines. Places in the world where you wouldn't think there's a goth movement, like Chili and Peru, and the Ukraine, well, they are there. Also, I wouldn't say I learned this because I already knew it: Goths are some of the kindest, most interesting and respectful beings. Intelligent and funny! Also incredibly generous with their time and energy and helpful in a lot of ways-clashes with the stereotype, doesn't it?

You teach on online course on writing vampire fiction. Is it hard, even for you, to find fresh ideas for the vampire archetype?
It's not so easy to write about vampires nowadays. The vampire has been done to death, so to speak. More vampire novels have been published in the last 20 years than all the vampire novels before, dating to the first one in English, Varney the Vampire, which predates Dracula by about 50 years. The archetype is basically always the same yet always alters slightly as refreshing images emerge in the culture, since that's what an archetype is. Putting a new spin on that slowly-evolving archetype is the problem. But there's always something new, twisting and turning your basic vampire in ways nobody before has thought about. And when we run into it, the vampirophile goes "Ahhhhhhh! That's so bloody good!"

What are some of the themes you discuss in your "Creating Short Stories" course?

The course is a nuts and bolts of writing short fiction. We cover characterization, plotting, point of view selection, dialogue, theme, setting, tense, syntax, editing, the whole enchilada. I cover all types of fiction in that course.

What do you have in the works right now?
I have a new novel coming out, Jason X: Planet of the Beast (Black Flame Publishing - June 2005). Also, Outsiders: Stories on the Edge of the Fantastical, co-edited with Nancy Holder (Roc/NAL - October 2005). I just handed in Mercedez-Day of the Dead to Blue Moon Books. Now I'm writing Jason X: To the Third Power (Black Flame Publishing), which should see print sometime in 2006. I have a few short stories coming out, and a couple I've promised to write. Two series of novels which were published in the '90s are being reprinted, some of those reprints are out already, some coming soon to a bookstore near you. I'm one of the guests at Rue Morgue Magazine's Festival of Fear in August, and I'm really looking forward to that. If you're in Toronto then, come and meet me!

Many thanks to Nancy for contributing this interview. Also, a special thanks to Christopher Golden for helping set up the ODDER JOBS interview series. You can order Odder Jobs online at Amazon.com.