Interview: Lee Battersby

Lee Battersby is the Ditmar winning author of more than 30 published short stories in speculative and dark fiction. In 2005 his story Tales of Nireym has been nominated for an Aurealis award and a Western Australian Tin Duck award. He has also been named as a tutor for Clarion South 2007. He lives in Perth with his wife, fellow author Lyn Battersby. His debut collection The Divergence Tree will be published by Prime Books in early 2006.

When did the writing bug first bite?

It first bit in my last couple of years at High School. I had an English teacher who recognized something in my assignments and commissioned me to write a story for the school yearbook. I had actually accepted a place at the Australian Defence Force Academy after high school (picture that, for a moment, if you will…) but two days from the plane trip I threw it all over to go to Uni and study Creative Writing. If I ever needed a clue that I was not career-minded, that was it right there. At Uni I wrote like the devil, sent out everywhere, and got nowhere fast. I ended up drifting off into other writing related things such as stand up comedy, and then wandered back sometime in 1999. Made my first sale and the rest is a teensy tiny footnote in a very shonky history.

What drew you to dark fiction?

Natural inclination? I don’t read a huge amount of dark fiction, other than that which falls across my reading desk in its turn. I don’t go out of my way to find it, in the same way I don’t really go out of my way to find anything. I just tend to grab whatever takes my whim at the time (which is why I haven’t read “The Years of Rice & Salt” yet but am up to date with all my Calvin & Hobbes books). I certainly find that when I sit down to write it’s the darker stories that are easier to tell, and even my lighter stories seem to have a ‘gulp’ moment: one point of the story where the reader starts to think “This is going to go real bad for someone real soon.”

What form of dark fiction appeals to you most? Do you have certain topics you like to return to?

There seems to be a certain underlying sense of loss and isolation in a lot of my work, which wasn’t apparent to me until I started to put them together for my upcoming collection The Divergence Tree. There also seems to be an abnormally high percentage of nice people having awful things done to them, but perhaps that’s just wish fulfillment at work.

As a reader and editor, I abhor overwriting, and really don’t get off on the creeping-tentacles-of-horror school of writing. It was fine for Lovecraft, but for me, that day is over. I like my terror to arise from some sort of natural order, and for the writing to be naturalistic, even sparse.

Who are your major influences?

As a writer, there are four writers whose bodies of work have influenced what I wish to achieve: Phil Dick, Alfie Bester, Howard Waldrop and Harlan Ellison. But that’s a philosophy thing, rather than a style thing. There are a huge number of people who have influenced my thoughts in regards to their philosophies, or the way in which they conduct their careers: Bill Hicks, Phil Lynnott, Billy Connolly, Spike Milligan, Kurt Vonnegut, Salvador Dali, Roger Waters and Alice Cooper.

As a reader, I’ve got a pretty healthy diversity in my reading taste. I couldn’t pick out one dark author over another. To be honest, I’m always leery when someone cites one or two influences as hanging over their work: it seems a very limiting thing. I’m happy for my philosophy to be guided by example, but not quite so comfortable with the thought that I might be following in someone’s footsteps stylistically.

Where do you draw your inspiration from? Is it from real life, from your imagination, from art?

A combination of all of them, usually, and I recognize what a pissy answer that is.

But if we take my Father Muerte stories as an example: the title convention (Father Muerte and…) is a play on Chesterton’s Father Brown stories. The plots are usually a combination of things that have interested me as I’ve done research for other projects, or things that have fascinated me for a while just on a personal level (the latest, for example, involves Kurlian photography, The Red Baron, World War One, DNA sampling, and reincarnation, amongst others). The setting is entirely a work of imagination, although some characters are fictional (Father Muerte, Benito) and some are analogues of real life figures (The Baron, Dr Gull, Saint Michael of Tolentino), and the happenings within each plot are, of course, my own work.

So where does the inspiration come from? All over. It’s the choice of elements, and the order their played with, that defines how each story turns out.

What do you want people to get out of your stories?

I want the Forry Ackerman response, I guess, what he labeled ‘Sensawunda’. I love the idea that I can spark something in a reader, some sense of “Wow! Fuck me! What was that all about?”. I’m not didactic, I don’t try to educate, or preach. I don’t do the political stuff, not much anyway. I do want to change a reader’s mind, literally. I want their brain to change shape. I want them to come out the other end of my story and see the world in a slightly different way, a slightly freer, more disorganized way.

I’m still trying to achieve the reaction I had when I was nine: in the same year I read my first SF story It Could Be You by Frank Roberts and heard my first Goon show. Things were just never the same after that.

When you’re not writing, what else do you do?

I currently have a day job on the desk at a health fund shopfront, handing out podiatry refunds to nannas, and other useful things. I’ve just bought a new house on the other side of Perth from our current place, so moving and renovating looms large in my future. And I have a young family that capture a lot of attention (“Hmm, shall I line edit this story or play with the baby?” No contest). I am the world’s biggest marshmallow when it comes to the kids, especially the little two, who are 4 and almost 1. Other than that, watching as much soccer as I can persuade the family to let me watch, and spending as much time with my beautiful wife Lyn as I can, it’s all writing. I’d rather write than do almost anything else. Lyn believes I’m only happy when I’m writing. I don’t necessarily agree with her, but I know I’m only miserable when I’m not.

What do you believe is your proudest achievement to date?

Life-wise, I think overcoming my terror at the thought of Lyn having a baby, and being presented with my beautiful son Connor. My first wife died a couple of days after our daughter Erin was born, and it ruined me as a person. When Lyn told me she wanted a child, it was the start of a torturous year for me. We came close to splitting over the subject, and it was only the thought that I might lose her that way that persuaded me, in the end. Naturally, as soon as she became pregnant, I had nine months to imagine all the ways in which it could kill her. Connor’s one year old in a week, and I think I stopped worrying about a day and a half ago.

Writing-wise, I’d have to say it was my selection as a tutor for Clarion South 2007. As far as clues that you’ve made it, baby, that was a biggie. I am desperate to make a career out of writing (who wants to give podiatry refunds to nanas for their whole life?), so each indication that others think I have something special means a hell of a lot to me. Selling my collection was a highlight, as was becoming the first Western Australian winner in the Writers of The Future competition a few years back. And whilst it sounds mushy to say it, the companionship and respect of artists like Stephen Dedman, Dave Luckett, Rob Hood, Simon Brown, and their ilk makes me very humble. I don’t usually feel like I’m fit to lace their drinks, and to be treated like a peer by these guys either means I can fool some of the people some of the time, or I might actually be doing something deserving of respect.

Or they think I’m Lee Harding.

What are your writing habits? Do you sit down for a scheduled time each day or just write when the bug bites?

I seem to fall in and out of writing habits. The latest is to get across to the library during my lunch break and do some work there. I’m trying to edit my novel by the end of the year, and as I go the print-line edit-input-print route, it’s bloody labour intensive. Both Lyn and I are determined to make something from 2006, after a fairly quite year this year, so we’re factoring in an hour or more each night as often as we can. Between a full-time job, an hour’s drive each way, anywhere up to five kids in the house depending upon which day it is, a marriage, a house sale, sex, sleep and eating, it’s often a matter of fitting it in wherever and whenever I can.

Never during sex, though.

How tough is it being an author of dark fiction in Australia? Is self promotion an important factor in today’s market?

Absolutely. There are a good number of writers who turn out one or two excellent stories a year, and that’s all you hear from them. I think some writers find promotion harder than others, but I think it’s something you have to get out there and do if you want your work to reach the widest continuous audience possible. I work at it, when I have the time, and whilst it’s not natural for me, I’m getting better. A lot of my spare time is spent in trying to come up with new ways to reach people, new ways I can reinterpret my markets. It all depends on what you want from writing. I want a long-term, full-time career from it. Essentially, that means being self-employed, and that means doing all the things any other self-employed small business owner would do: find new ways to create business and carve a niche out for yourself.

The writing bit is the easy part.

Do you believe it is possible to make a living as an author in Australia? What else do you have to do to survive?

God, I hope so, after what I said to the last question. Yes it’s possible. I know of a number of authors who do it: Winton, Jolley, Courtenay, McCullough, Barrett. But if you mean ‘is it possible to make a living as a dark author?’ well, maybe that’s a bit harder. But then, I hate the idea of pigeonholing myself like that. I’m a writer, and a lot of what I turn to when I write is dark, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do a screenplay, or poetry, or series of articles, or whatever. Have the idea, write the idea, then see what it is. Then see if you can make it pay.

To survive, apart from have a day job? Again, I fall back on the small business model: diversify, promote, consolidate and chase work. Whether that translates to success, I don’t know. Something like seventy percent of small businesses fail within the first year of operation.

With technology advancing all the time, is there a place for horror novels and short stories in the future?

Yep. Silly question. It may not be the place they have occupied in the past, but then, it isn’t that place now. People like to read, and they like to read books. You can’t curl up in bed with a glass of wine and a computer. Well, you can, but it’s not as nice.

What advise can you offer young writers of dark fiction?

Write, finish, send, repeat. Listen to editors. They may not be right, and you may not agree with everything they say, but if you want your work to sell, they’re the people you have to sell it to. Pay attention. Go to conventions. Ask questions. Fear no author: introduce yourself, ask a smart question and pay attention to the answers. Read as widely as possible. Watch television, but smartly - for every Big Brother that dies, a good documentary can take its place. Find other authors, and hang out. Talk shop. Have sex as often as possible, it’s fun. Write like a fevered bitch, and never repeat yourself. Don’t big note yourself: let your track record create your reputation. Always, always write.

Tell us about your short story collection the Divergence Tree. How did it come about?

It came about because I wrote enough stories to come to the attention of Queensland writer Geoffrey Maloney, who suggested I should pitch a collection to Prime Books, who had just published his collection Tales From the Crypto-System. I did, and they took it. It was probably a combination of some of the things I mentioned above: Geoff and I knew each other from the mailing lists, we’d read each other’s work, and there was (and is) a large amount of professional respect on both parts. And I’d been committed to creating a wide range of work, so when it came time to pitch the book to Sean Wallace at Prime, I was able to put together something appropriate for his tastes, which do run to the darker end of things.

You have had a lot of short stories published in the past four years. Is there a system to your success? Do you target certain publications or just write from the heart?

Write first, work it all out later, I think. I tell the story as it comes to me, and only when it’s complete do I try to work out where to send it. The key for me has always been to be prolific. I work on quite a few projects at once, mainly to keep myself from getting tired or jaded, so I always end up sending things out in bunches. If I sell a few in quick succession, it gives the impression that I’m a writing machine, when in truth I’m probably just suffering from a stunted attention span.

My only other secret is never to do the same thing twice in a row. If I wrote a straight fantasy last time, the next story will be a comic SF piece, or an interview, or a domestic horror piece, and then I’ll turn through 90 degrees with the one after that, and so on. Range is important, more important than a lot of beginning writers realize. I fell into having a wide range through lack of stick-to-itness in my character, but it’s benefiting me now that I’m developing a reputation. God save me from becoming a churner-out of fantasy series.

You have mentioned in previous interviews that you feel dark fiction is being tainted by too many middle of the road stories. Do you feel this is a problem caused by authors or are publishers and readers still too scared to accept truly dark fiction?

I’ve not had many problems, especially since the arrival of Shadowed Realms and their multitudinous (and should I say multifarious?) projects. All it takes is to find an editor or two with dark tastes, and as long as you can deliver, they’ll enter into the appropriate dialogue with you. Borderlands also seems well disposed towards my darker stuff. Familiarity with markets helps: I wouldn’t send anything Shadowed Realms might like to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, for example. Wrong market, very wrong. But they are a haven for my lighter pieces.

What’s needed are editors with strong vision. Angela Challis at SR is one: she knows what she wants, and works her ass off to get writers to send it to her. When an editor has a strong editorial vision, s/he will attract writers who can work with her to achieve a mutual benefit. That’s what has made Ellen Datlow successful, and Gardner Dozois, Horace Gold, Ed Ferman, John Campbell: writers knew what was required. Nothing makes me grit my teeth more than submission guidelines that read “we don’t know what we want but we’ll know it when we see it. Just send us your best stuff.” Oh really? You want my best erotica? Horror? Haiku? It’s guidelines like that which lead to wishy-washy stories: writers don’t know what’s required so they hedge their bets.

Your wife Lyn is also part of the speculative fiction market as a committee member for Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and Ticonderoga Online. Is it a help or a hindrance having two people interested in the same field under the same roof?

Lyn did edit for ASIM, and is still involved with Tic-On, as well as having a burgeoning writing career herself. You want to talk dark, check out her story The Memory of Breathing in ASIM 17. And she’s one of the Guests of Honour at the Fandomedia 2006 convention here in Perth next year.

Being writers together, I don’t think it’s a hindrance at all. In many ways it’s a dream to be able to say “Writing night tonight” and not only have understanding but compliance! Our greatest trick is ensuring we both have equal time to work, and that we don’t fall into the trap of taking each other’s work for granted. In most ways it’s the same juggling act as any other working couple, although we have the added bonus of feeling like we’re engaged in something special, and understanding the needs and rewards we each get out of our work. Although if she wins a Nebula before I do I’m going to bloody sulk.

What can people expect from Lee Battersby in the future? What are you working on now?

I’ve just sent out my first novel package (the old synopsis plus three chapters) to an agent in the US, and am busily tidying up the rest while they decide whether to pick it up or not. If they do, I’m hopeful they’ll sell it, of course. I’ll be starting my next one in the new year, as well as aiming to complete a dozen or so short stories, including two new father Muerte stories hopefully. I always start each year with the aim of selling ten stories, which is a great way to ensure I keep writing. I’m working on three short stories at the moment, one of which I’m writing specifically to send to Cosmos to try to break into that market, and two that will find a home once I work out what they’re about.

I have a non-fiction book project I’m just about to pitch that will take up a fair bit of time next year if I’m successful. And I’d like to branch out a bit next year, pursue some non-paper related activities, new ways of getting my writing into different audiences, so it’s likely that I’ll be busy researching different media and their requirements.

And the collection should see print some time in the first half of the year, so that might lead me to some cons and bookshops around the place.

Look out for new fiction by Lee Battersby in upcoming issues of Borderlands, Andromeda Inflight Spaceways Magazine, Antipodean SF and Aurealis. To find out more about Lee Battersby log onto his website.

Next week in the Horrorscope author interview series: Paul Haines