Hi folks! We’ve got some exciting things happening here, which I should mention before I get down to today’s interview. Touched is being relaunched soon by my nifty new publisher, the fun and amazingly talented Booktrope gang. Details, dates, etc will be trumpeted as soon as I have them of course. And October 28th I will be appearing at Stonechurch Vineyards for a talk in their new Wine & Writers series. Again, as details filter in, I will post them here.

For the interim of the following blog post, I, AJ Aalto, aka Writerghoulie, aka The Black Orchid, aka Trick-ass Fetish Burglar (wait, nobody calls me that…but they should) will be known as “Jane Pocket.” Allow me to explain.

Today I interview my dear friend, Jason D Ready, aka Jason Jones, aka Schnappsy (embarrassing cottage nickname, don’t worry, I’ll make him explain) aka Johnny Coattails. That last nickname came about when he was crowing on and on about how he was gonna “ride my coattails to fame and glory.” HA! I fooled that mofo by having neither. Who’s laughing now?

In the midst of our discussion, I said that perhaps I’d ride his coattails to fame. He said I’d get lost on a coattail and was small enough to fit in a pocket. Jane Pocket was born, the perfect counterpart to Johnny Coattails.

Now that we have that settled, on with the grilling.

Jane Pocket:  This is a bit of a different interview, because normally I interview writers after they’ve finished their novel. I’m catching you before you’re done, and it’ll be interesting, I think, to look back on this interview in time as a sort of prognosticating attempt. You and I are in the early stages of collaboration, and you’ve started your own projects as well. Tell me a bit about your solo writing, what phase you’re at.

Johnny Coattails: Well, clearly, if published authors are interviewing me before I put out a single scrap of writing, I’m approaching the end game.

 I’m writing fragments and scraps of many things, sometimes dependent on the whim of my collaborator. Short stories, long form serials, and stand-alone novels…all fall at the whim of Jane Pocket! I’m in process of writing a dark sci-fi/horror book, sort of a “slasher-in-space” story that changes half way through, and gets real metaphysical. I figure I should get the deep stuff out of the way before getting ready to work with you.

Jane Pocket: Very good idea. Wait–what?! I think there’s an insult in there somewhere…or possibly three; for someone who professes to be snagged in the fluctuating purls of my whims, you’re awfully ballsy. Are you an outliner, or a “pantser”?

Johnny Coattails: I think my fingers want me to be a pantser — wow, THAT’S a phrase I’m never typing again — but I realize the dangers of not outlining. If I want to write a series of books about the same characters, and I don’t want to sound like I’m making shit up in book four, I have to plot out the steps early. Although, that would be an interesting way to write a series: Just randomly throw shit in, and work out the significance later. “He woke up to a talking purple duck on his bed.” And then 6 books later, decide “Oh yeah! His family was torn apart in the woods by purple talking ducks!”

Million dollar idea, right there.

Jane Pocket: It’s so not. You’re a family man with a full-time job , a wife, and two kids. When do you find time to write?

Johnny Coattails: I don’t, clearly, or you’d stop bugging me about it.

<I almost never threaten. I buy gifts. It’s called “encouragement”, asshole>

Johnny Coattails: Actually, I’ve found the morning and evening commute on the train a nice time to write. I take my iPad with me, and tap out whatever fevered musings are in my head. Of course, I have to shield my screen from anyone sitting next to me. Either for fear of them judging me, or stealing my ideas, I haven’t decided yet.

Jane Pocket: As you begin to dip your toe into the world of novel writing, what aspect are you finding most challenging?

Johnny Coattails: <sigh> Research. I almost want to try writing either pure fantasy or pure sci-fi, just to avoid having to look up how things actually work. Actually, I’m tempted to just powertrain through all the seasons of Mythbusters and call it a day. That’s like research, right?

<This is research, too! In case I ever set a book in Paris…so I should go, right?>

Johnny Coattails: The alternative that looks the most attractive is basically to have a book fact-checked almost entirely on Wikipedia, and find out how entertaining that is…

Jane Pocket: *braces for the Mrs. Coattails rebuttal to that last* Have you discovered any personal writing quirks as of yet? For instance, some writers need music, others silence, some need pen & paper, others must type, some have *cough* little plastic good luck zombies on their desk …

Johnny Coattails: One might say I need to fear the crack of a very tiny and neurotic whip from a zombie-lovin’ writer, but one would not want to get killed in one’s sleep.

Jane Pocket: One might wanna cover up his thinly-veiled snipes or one might get clobbered with one’s own…something perfectly scary and intimidating. A body part would be logical. Got nothin’, what were you saying?

Johnny Coattails: I do need to type – I type almost faster than I can think, which is why I spend so much time planning out story without writing. Because when I do write, I need it to come out like greased lightning. But no quirks yet. I leave the quirks to you. So many quirks…

Jane Pocket: *glare* What genre do your current project(s) fall into, and are these the genres you prefer to read?

Johnny Coattails: I have ideas in about 4 or 5 genres, but they all tend to be dark. Horror, horror/sci-fi, dark urban fantasy, black comedy. I think horror is the kind of thing that could be brought to any story. Every great movie has some element of horror, even if you don’t admit it. My daughter once pointed out to me that almost every Disney villain has one scene of just terrifying menace. And that’s why we root for the good guy. Because the alternative would be horrific.

It’s funny that the book I’m writing now started as a science-fiction as a way for me to voice my thoughts on technology and spirituality, and how one sort of forces us to abandon the other…and then realized that I could tell that story better with grisly murders. It’s probably telling that the character most like me in the book is the killer. I read dark-themed books as well. Stephen King and his twisted world…he’s written books in every genre as well, and every one can qualify as ‘horror’, if not ‘horror adjacent’.

 Jane Pocket:  What’s up with this collaboration thingy that you’re doing with that weird Writerghoulie, AJ Aalto? *cheesy grin*

Johnny Coattails:  Well, shameless self-promotion machine, that is true about us collaborating. I think, if you’ll allow me this bit of ego, that no one has quite the same level of bent in their sensibilities as you and I do. At least a mental professional diagnosed yours. There’s no excuse for my damage yet.

Jane Pocket: Our collaborative series is best described, I think, as “semi-satirical noir/horror elf punk”, though you’ve coined the term “Pixie Grind” to describe it. How did the subgenre “Pixie Grind” come into being and where did it get its name?

Johnny Coattails: Oh Crom, I can’t believe you want that story out in the public.

Jane Pocket: I want all my horribleness out in the public, dude. What are you, new?

Johnny Coattails: Okay, well, we were talking about story ideas, and thought a world of magic would be amazing. But then we decided the world was Steampunk, and that the magical creatures would be subjugated by humanity, because that’s what we do best. We have a similar dark opinion of human nature. One of us decided that rather than cocaine or meth or other drugs like that, in our world, humans would get high off pixie wings. And you mentioned that the hardcore drug users would snort or inject crushed pixie bones. And then, really rolling on our sickness, I mentioned that I could clearly see a dejected and overweight man, covered in his own filth, slowly feeding screaming pixies into an old fashioned meat grinder, while twitchy junkies waited in line, sniffing and scratching their arms.

And voila, Pixie Grind was born.

Jane Pocket: As we head into the wild world of Steampunk for research, what are your first impressions? Have you done any cosplay in the past? LARPing? Were you a D&D boy growing up?

Johnny Coattails: Oh, I was so a D&D boy. And any other kind of roleplaying game. (Head out of the gutter, Aalto). I was a superhero, a ninja, a superspy, and anything else. Major nerd. And although I haven’t cosplayed or LARPed at this point, I gaze sadly at forums on sites about them, and say “Why not me?!”

I could completely get into dressing Steampunk. Or decorating my house that way. In fact, my man cave is in the Steampunk planning stages. And I realize that at this stage in my life, I’ve surrounded myself with people with a similar sentimentality. I find Steampunk fascinating…I’ve always liked the allure of the “What If?” story, and adding it to the Victorian combination of their raging sense of adventure but saddled with that stuffy uptight attitude is just spectacular. I’m very much looking forward to putting my…sorry, OUR…mark on the genre, and seeing if we can’t spice things up a bit.

Jane Pocket: You play bass guitar and have been in a band, tell me a bit about that. Were you involved in the songwriting process?

Johnny Coattails: I was. Although mostly we just did metal covers of light 80’s pop hits, we had a couple of original songs. “Three Fingers Deep” was a love song about bowling. “Babies Eat Babies” was pretty self explanatory. And rhyming “Matron of Honour” with “Ate Jeffrey Dahmer” is one of my proudest moments as a songwriter.

Jane Pocket: You have a background in drama and theater. When you write, do you find the action plays out in your head like a movie?

Johnny Coattails: Oh, definitely. Hell, sometimes I even cast it before I write. I mean, sure, I mostly put in real people I know, but don’t think there’s no celebs already on my shortlist to play my characters. Denzel man, stop ducking me!

I know that books are a different medium though, and you can be in their heads so much more. But the action beats – they almost have to be cinematic.

Jane Pocket: Do you find your TV and movie interests differ from your reading interests, or do they run in the same lines? Admit it: you secretly read old-timey bodice-rippers when nobody’s home.

Johnny Coattails:  Is that code for porn? Because I haven’t read porn in years. You ruined me, Internet!! I watch a lot of smart geek stuff. I like shows that force you to think, rather than consume. Lost, Pushing Daisies, Firefly, Eureka. Geek stuff that doesn’t spoon feed you, and lets you feel entertained and smart.

Jane Pocket: Is there a particular genre that you think would be very difficult to write, and if so, why?

Johnny Coattails: Love stories. Period pieces about the prairies. Anything where people can only talk to each other by turning away towards a window. That stuff just puts me to sleep, and I can’t imagine not interrupting one with a pitched ninja battle. I think that might have saved Sense and Sensibility.

Jane Pocket: Collaboration. There are several ways of writing a novel or series with another writer. Can you give the readers a peek into our process and how we’re attempting to work things out?

Johnny Coattails: Well, I know we’re still at the beginning stages, but at this point, one of us writes a chapter, and the other one overwrites it, laying their own style on the thing. This is after much discussion by committee though, so we know where everything is headed.

Jane Pocket: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Johnny Coattails: I’m sorry, AJ, but time travel is impossible.

Jane Pocket: *long-suffering sigh*

Johnny Coattails: But hopefully, at a book signing with you, having people try to figure out who actually wrote the most disturbing parts of our book.

Jane Pocket: Last one! Tell me how you got the name “Schnappsy”…? Clearly, it’s something emasculating and therefore amusing to me.

Johnny Coattails: What’s emasculating about getting drunk on Peach Schnapps? You can’t tell me the Germans don’t know their booze…

(editor’s note: AJ Aalto and Stonechurch Vineyards is a natural pairing. AJ is a wino–no wait! What I meant was, AJ loves supporting local businesses and artists, that’s it, and the Stonechurch ’07 Riesling-Gewurztraminer blend IS ART. Art for your mouth. Don’t take my word for it, Niagara, go try it.)

(author’s note: AJ + Johnny Coattails + Fireball Whiskey just might = best book ever. Or worst book ever. This remains to be seen….)