Interview with Arthur K. Flam, co-author of '41 Strange'
Arthur K. Flam was born in New York City and graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in writing,
and from New York University with an M.F.A. in film. He
served as Editor-in-Chief of Johns Hopkins's oldest literary magazine, ZENAIDA,
and worked as a journalist for the BALTIMORE
CHRONICLE. He started in the film industry as an assistant on Abel
Ferrara's vampire film, THE ADDICTION. He has co-written screenplays for
the films PENNY DREADFUL and
HIT AND RUN. 41 STRANGE is his
first book. He lives in Los Angeles.
For More Information
- Visit the authors’ website.
- Connect with the authors on Facebook and Twitter.
- Contact the authors here.
About
the Book:
41 STRANGE, a first-of-its-kind e-book
anthology devoted exclusively to “short-short stories of the strange and
horrifying,” awaits just a couple of clicks away for Kindle readers who enjoy a
good shiver up their spines.
41 STRANGE is the bizarre debut collection
of authors/screenwriters Diane Doniol-Valcroze and Arthur K. Flam, who deliver
a reading experience in the spirit of such masters of the macabre as Edgar
Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Alfred Hitchcock, and Rod Serling. As
Doniol-Valcroze and Flam put it, the tales were written “in the lonely hour of
the wolf … in the pre-dawn darkness when you get those ‘waking nightmares.’”
Doniol-Valcroze
and Flam are screenwriters working in Los Angeles. They
met at New York University's film school and started collaborating, first on short films and
then on screenplays. That working relationship forged a natural path to writing
stories.
“We're
both very passionate about short fiction,” says Flam. “It's our favorite form
to read and write. After working together for many years on film projects, we
realized we had a lot of ideas … that could only be done as short stories, so
we decided to finally pull the trigger.”
The
short-short story format makes a perfect fit for the authors' strange visions.
They immediately set up surreal and terrifying situations, which lead to even
stranger conclusions. The stories can be read in their entirety in the time it
takes to pour a cup of coffee and settle in with the book.
“Neal Edelstein
(producer, MULHOLLAND DRIVE) has endorsed the book, and we’re excited because his new horror
app HAUNTING MELISSA was the main
inspiration for us to release the stories direct-to-audience,” says
Doniol-Valcroze.
One of
the authors' favorite stories in 41 STRANGE is “Frank’s Wash,” in which a man finds himself
stuck on the conveyor belt of a car wash. All attempts to get the car wash
operator's attention fail. Where Frank finally ends up becomes a chilling
dissection of the parent-child relationship.
“We
think (the stories) all embody that unnerving atmosphere,” Doniol-Valcroze and
Flam say. “You're not quite sure if the events unfolding around the character
are happening for real, or are they just a figment of the character's
overactive imagination. We love that ambiguity.”
Doniol-Valcroze and Flam believe that 41
STRANGE will appeal to a general audience of film lovers and short story
readers, as well as fans of science-fiction, horror and crime, and readers
looking “for a quick dose of strange stories for commuting, or just curling up
for a chilling night read before bed.”
For More Information
Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life, Arthur. Can
you tell us how long you’ve been writing and how your journey led to writing
your latest book, 41 Strange?
I began writing around nine, a tiny story that took
place in hell, Mr. Untouchable. I
graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. from
the writing program, after which I went to NYU film school. While there, I was
introduced to my future collaborator, Diane Doniol-Valcroze. We found a common
taste for the macabre and have a love of short fiction.
Later, we were honored to meet Ray Bradbury in Los Angeles during the
writer’s strike in 2008. We suddenly felt extremely motivated, almost
electrically motivated to create a book. 41
Strange was born from that chance meeting. These stories in the collection were written over
two years in the lonely hour of the wolf… in the pre-dawn darkness when you get
those waking nightmares.
Q: How did you choose your title and was it your
first choice?
It was first choice. The 41 in the title was
inspired by Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. The famous scene where Cary Grant is
attacked by the airplane is at Prairie Stop on Highway 41.
Q: We all know that publishers can’t do all of the
publicity and that some lies on the author.
What has your publisher done so far to publicize the book and what have
you done?
My co-author (Diane
Doniol-Valcroze) and I immediately decided to self-publish. We aimed to
maintain editorial control over the book’s content, as well as the artwork. We
feel grateful to be able to release the book as it was intended. We’re thankful
to receive the help and expertise of the wonderful publicist Charlie Barrett.
Also, we were inspired by our friend, Neal Edelstein (producer of Mulholland
Drive, Haunting Melissa), who gave us encouragement to release the
book direct-to-readers.
Q: Open to a random page in your book. Can you tell us what is happening?
It’s a dark night and a woman in a motel room is
touching a purple curtain that appears to be crying.
Q: Do you plan subsequent books?
Diane and I are planning to write the next volume.
Truly, it’s an addictive process…
Q: What is the one thing you learned about your
book AFTER it was published?
It’s still strange.
Q: What is your most favorite time of the day or
night to write?
Night. For my co-author, morning. That could be why
we wrote the tales during the hours of the wolf – between 3AM and 5AM!
Q: What is usually better – the book or the movie?
The way I see it is… usually the book. The book is
the peephole, so to speak. The moviemaker’s eye looking through the peephole is
only one vision of the story.
Q: You’re
about to write your next book. What did
you learn from your previous book to help you write your next book?
Try to overcome being sentimental, you’re going to
have to stab at the book, and do the bloody butcher’s work of cutting it down
and down to the bone.
Q: Finally, what’s your best tip you can give to
writers who want to be published?
Do it any way you can… To quote Maya Angelou, There is no greater agony than bearing an
untold story inside you.
Q: Thank you for your interview, Arthur. Do you have any final words?
Thanks kindly for having me. It’s my sincere hope
curious readers will get a good dose of tingling up their spines when they read
41 Strange.
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