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Matthew C. Funk

Matthew C. Funk is a social media consultant, professional marketing copywriter and writing mentor. He is the editor of the Genre section of the critically acclaimed zine, FictionDaily, and a staff writer for FangirlTastic and Spinetingler Magazine. Interviewed by Lynn Alexander for PRATE.

1. Can you talk a little bit about some of your favorite creative projects? Looking back, what stands out as a novel or screenplay or other work that really puts forth your objectives as a writer, or typifies your style, what says “Matthew C. Funk”?

A: Matthew C. Funk tells the monster’s story. The writing that inspires me most is the writing that takes the reader to a dark place and shows its reflection is not all too different from their own. I have written about Germans and Russians in World War II, slave-peddling pirates during the fall of Republican Rome and outlaws in modern New Orleans slumland, but all of these projects have the same aim: I want to illustrate how the other side thinks and feels, and for those thoughts and feelings to have an effect. Continue Reading…

PRATE Summer

PRATE Interviews are back, with a line up of summer interviews that will be coming your way over the next few weeks.

We also have some new sections: Crow Audio and a blog. The Audio section lists our internet radio shows and upcoming guests and audio interviews. The blog is a place for updates, events, readings, and more from the editors of Full Of Crow- which also includes Blink|Ink, ARTERIALIZE, Fashion For Collapse, Comix For Collapse, The Sphere, and more. Crow is a growing family, whose nefarious tendrils extend into unexpected territories. Follow the madness on facebook and twitter. Contact Lynn Alexander for more information: lynnalexander@fullofcrow.com.

Sherry Thompson

JM Reinbold of the Written Remains Writers Guild interviewing Sherry Thompson, author of the recently published epic high fantasy, sword and sorcery Earthbow.

JM Reinbold: Hi, Sherry! Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Sherry Thompson: I’m in my sixties, retired, and fairly unconventional. Storytelling is my second career but my first love.

I’m servant to two cats. Khiva, the seal-point Siamese was considered unadoptable by her breeder–terrified of all humans–but we’re good buddies now. Vartha is a black foundling with some Maine Coon mixed in. She’s no longer a kitten but she still acts like one. She’s goofy over cardboard boxes. Khiva comes and tells me when Vartha is misbehaving. Continue Reading…

Ilan Herman

Ilan Herman’s first novel, “The Gravedigger”, is out now from Casperian. Interviewed by Lynn Alexander for PRATE.

LA: How long have you been writing, and when do you recall first thinking of yourself as a writer?

IH: Been a songwriter for thirty years and a novelist for about ten. Both flex the same muscle.

LA: Some writers describe a sense of having a “novel in them” or a “novel to get out”. Did you feel that you had a story you had to tell? Did you have a sense of nagging, did it prompt you to sit down and get started?

IH: Cliché as it may sound, I am but a prism to the tale, and probably to my past. They come together. I enjoy the alternate universe and miss it when it’s gone. Continue Reading…

Matthew Revert

How does one describe a book such as A Million Versions of Right, the collection of short stories from Australian literary first-timer, Matthew Revert?  Not an easy task, especially if one wants to avoid repeating all other attempts, every single one of which can be distilled to the words ‘bizarre’, ‘hilarious’, and ‘disturbing’.  An interview with Matthew Revert by PD Lussier.

So then what about the author?  How the hell do I introduce Matthew Revert in a way that offers meaningful insight on his indescribable work? Bizarre, unusual, hilarious, and disturbed???   After all, anyone whose mind can generate such stories surely qualifies to have his name designate some new mental disorder in the latest version of the DSM, right?

Alas, Matthew can’t bank on any pity inducing freak-factor; despite all expectations, these stories are in fact the product of an overly sane mind.

Indeed, Matthew would be a worthy poster-boy for that scarce and paradoxical crowd I playfully label as rebelliously un-rebelling rebels—those whose still fully-functioning sensibility fills them with disgust in the face of the world we are forced to passively accept, but whose razor-sharp acuity allows them to discern the futility and inevitable despair behind wanting to function outside of certain societal constructs,  while  a profound sense of identity enables them to reach for the ‘meaningful’ and scorn the ‘prosaic’ knowing full well that their version of Happiness relies on the acceptance that their non-conformist goals are dependent on conventions and conformity.

Understanding this about Matthew Revert doesn‘t make describing his book any easier, but it certainly should make it clear to you that this book aims to fall well outside  of that weird-only-for-the-sake-of-goofy-novelty mess that festers the mainstream bowels of Bizarro and Absurdist fiction in much the same way that love songs were soiled by Air Supply.   Rather, this book offers a crucial and refreshing difference that should instantly establish it as a prototype of the Bizarro genre (perhaps New Absurdist?  Subject for a debate no doubt).  That difference is: in these stories, the nonsensical actually makes sense and the illogical is firmly grounded on logic, i.e. they have a raison-d’être. Continue Reading…

Brian Beatty

Brian Beatty’s business card reads “Writer. Comedian. Dude with a beard.” He’s also worked as a busboy, a janitor and a bookstore manager. Brian grew up in Brazil, Indiana, where there was no carnivale, but the locals did all kind of look like carnies. When he’s not writing, performing or combing his profuse facial hair, he’s probably out walking his dog Hurley. Or he might be compiling another mildly funny list. Interviewed by Peter Schwartz.

PS: You’ve done a lot of stuff in your thirty-nine years, Mr. Beatty.  Maybe you could start off by telling our good readers about some of your interests and accomplishments in this life cycle of you as an intelligent, handsome, bearded gentleman?

BB: My interests are varied, but mostly I’m into writing, comedy, music and the visual arts. I spend a lot of time hiking and camping with my girlfriend and our dog. I’ve never tried my hand at painting or sculpture, but I’ve given everything else I’m interested in at least a cursory go because I’ve always considered hands-on experience the best way to learn. Continue Reading…

Greg Smith

J.M. Reinbold interviews Delaware author Greg Smith, author of “Final Price”.

JMR: Hi, Greg! Please tell us a bit about yourself.

GS: I was born and raised in Washington, DC. I have a BA in English from Skidmore College and an MBA from the College of William & Mary. I worked in public relations in DC and moved to Delaware to get married. I also worked in PR in Wilmington and Philadelphia before committing to fiction writing full time.
Continue Reading…

Tim Gaze

Tim Gaze is the publisher of Asemic Magazine, a publication dedicated to the presentation of Asemic writing. Interviewed by Lynn Alexander.

By Tim Gaze

ASEMIC:
It looks like writing, but we can’t quite read it.
I call works like this “asemic writing”.

LA: Starting off with asemic writing, how did you become interested? Do you find yourself explaining what it is, only to be asked why you do it? Not to say that there even has to be a reason for art or writing, but people often want one or feel entitled to one, to some kind of justification. Do people ask about your objectives with asemic work?

Do you find that people easily misunderstand?

TG: I used to write quirky fiction & poetry. somehow, after a holiday in Indonesia, talking in Bahasa Indonesia for 2 months, I started to make wordless squiggles of symbols. Continue Reading…

Robert Chrysler

Robert Chrysler is an inspired subway-ranter from Toronto, Canada. He enjoys challenging capitalist property relations, trying to figure out what the post-structuralists are going on about, and dreams of someday living in a tree. Interviewed by Lynn Alexander for PRATE.

LA: What’s constant? In other words, is there anything that seems consistent for you right now?

RC: Unfortunately, the only constant in my life is my continued marginalization, living on the fringes of society. I used to think that I could still at some point work hard and fight my way back towards some degree of normalcy or the everyday domestication that most people experience. I don’t any longer. I am too old to spend my time at menial, backbreaking labour that leaves me with no time or energy to pursue the things that really mean anything to me and never get me ahead anyway. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ll probably be destitute and homeless, living in shelters and whatnot, for the rest of my days. I plan on making the best of it, however. Continue Reading…

Ben Tanzer

“What they struggle with is what they feel or don’t feel, the inability to communicate what they are feeling and how it is we connect with others.” Ben Tanzer, interviewed for PRATE by Peter Schwartz

P.S.: Ben Tanzer is one of those guys you meet and like within seconds.  He’s agreed to talk to me here and I’ve agreed to use my big boy voice.  Welcome Ben, why don’t you tell our good readers a little about yourself and how you can change their lives?

B.T.: You are very generous, and it’s clear you have picked-up on one of my worst not so hidden traits – I love flattery, both giving and receiving.  I would add here that I appreciate your interest in interviewing me and I think you look great today.  Is that a new shirt?  In terms of myself, I used to tell people that I was a founding member of Wham!, but they soon realized that was maybe not entirely accurate.  I blame Wikipedia for that and now I tell them I used to be Ric Astley.  Beyond that I went to the same high school as Rod Serling, albeit after he did, and if you forced me to pick whether I am a Star Trek person or a Twilight Zone person, I would choose the latter.  I also went to high school with Lisa Baylor who you probably don’t know, but wish you did.  I was interviewed on the debut episode of the now long defunct MTV Sports show.  Continue Reading…