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Interview with Poppy Z. Brite SUB: So when did you stop eating human flesh? PZB: Regrettably, I never even got started. A friend of mine had a nice piece in the freezer for New Year's Eve 2000, but he had a bad premonition and got rid of it, and later that week his house was raided by the police on other (unfounded) charges. SUB: I asked you that question because of a novel you published four years ago, EXQUISITE CORPSE. The occasional journalist will still refer to you as a "vampire writer," though you've written nothing about vampires since (or before) 1992's LOST SOULS. Do you feel that your past subject matter has limited or stereotyped you? PZB: Not for the people who are actually reading my work. They know that I'm not a "vampire writer," that I've moved on from the cannibalism and gore of EXQUISITE CORPSE, that I'm changing and (I hope) growing as a writer. Sadly, I think people expect writers -- and especially horror writers, because they do it so often – to strike one note and hold it for an entire career, particularly if that first note is successful. Because of the success LOST SOULS continues to enjoy, some people can't imagine that I'd ever want to write about anything but vampires, let alone that I've written things that aren't even horror. SUB: Tell us more about your non-horror work. PZB: That's the direction in which I seem to be going. My new novella with Subterranean Press, PLASTIC JESUS, has no supernatural or horrific elements. Nor does the novel I'm working on now. But I've been working outside the genre here and there for quite a long time. "Triads," the novella I co-wrote with Christa Faust for Doug Winter's anthology REVELATIONS, is historical adventure fiction. I've written non-horrific erotica. I've written articles about literary and social decadence, Amsterdam coffeeshops, the Dublin street scene, my adventures with gender, and many other subjects. Some of these articles will be reprinted in an upcoming Subterranean collection of my short nonfiction, tentatively titled GUILTY BUT INSANE. SUB: Just like your column for CEMETERY DANCE magazine. PZB: Right, those will be in there too. In the realm of nonfiction, there's also my Courtney Love biography, but it could be argued that that was horror. SUB: We know PLASTIC JESUS is set in the world of rock and roll. Did your immersion in that world while researching Courtney Love give you the idea for this story? PZB: Not really. The story has gone through many permutations, one of which was going to be a novel, and that one had a biographer character enduring the agony of dealing with a very difficult interview subject. But I hated all those parts and threw them out. Really, I've always written about musician characters. The first story I ever sold, "Optional Music for Voice and Piano," was about a rock band. So that aspect of PLASTIC JESUS is not a new thing for me. However, I've usually written about modern-day musicians. PLASTIC JESUS takes place mainly in the sixties, but spans a time period from 1957 to 1985. SUB: Any truth to the rumor that it's an alternate-reality gay Beatles story? PZB: Well, that makes it sound like those fan sites with fiction featuring Kirk and Spock getting it on ... but having said that, I think it will be obvious to anyone who reads PLASTIC JESUS that the Beatles were a major inspiration. I can't help it, I just think the world would be a better place today if John and Paul had been queer for each other. SUB: Aren't you afraid of getting sued by Yoko Ono? PZB: If she didn't sue over that Albert Goldman biography, I can't imagine her suing me because of this nice little story. SUB: I assume she's not in it, anyway. PZB: Exactly. |
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