The new BRUTARIAN is here

Hey folks, in between my copious amounts of non-posting here on the blog, I sometimes manage to squeeze in occasional, for-real publication in actual dead tree media. Brutarian Quarterly no. 53 is a case in point.



Aside from the spiffy cover, this issue of Brutarian is worth picking up for the contributions inside from yours truly, first and foremost being an interview with the great SF writer and reformed journalist Allen Steele. Here's a sampling of what's in store:

BRUT: You won your first Hugo in 1996 for "The Death of Captain Future." I have to ask you, though, were you influenced in any way by S.J. Perelman's 1940 essay "Captain Future, Block That Kick!"?

STEELE: No, I hadn't even heard of that one before I wrote my story. In fact, a friend of mine, Rob Chilson, gave me that one later on, and I was highly amused. But no, I hadn't heard of it before.

What I was influenced by, of course, were the Captain Future stories themselves. I read those when I was a kid. It was a part of this fascination I had as a pre-teen with pulp fiction that started with Doc Savage and continued through with reading reprints of The Shadow, G-8 and His Battle Aces, Conan and so forth. Captain Future, although he wasn't my favorite of those pulp heroes, somehow there was something about him that really stuck in my head. Many years later I decided that I wanted to try to write a pulp story for the 90s, and it came back to Captain Future. But I didn't want to do a parody, and I didn't want to do a Captain Future story, pre se; for one thing, I didn't think I could get the rights to the character.

So I did sort of a reflection on it. I did a story about somebody who's obsessed with Captain Future to the point that he's trying to emulate him, even though this person has no right in the world to be anybody's hero, and how his personality conflicts with somebody who in some ways does have Captain Future's attributes, somebody how really is something of a heroic type.

It was a lot of fun to write and I can't be more pleased by the fact it's remained popular, is still read and has been translated many times. Now there's even an audio production out there from Audible.com.

In addition to a handful of book reviews contributed by myself, the issue also contains the usual glorious lineup of underground and off-kilter fare. Highlights include an interview with "Scream Queen" Linnea Quigley, she of countless low-budget horror flicks, including "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers," a personal favorite.

At just $5 an issue, it's cheaper than most other mind-altering substances. Drop by the website and tell Dom you want a copy or six.

An interview with Joe Haldeman

Heads up kids--this is something you'll want to see. My interview with the great Joe Haldeman is now available in the current issue of Brutarian.



Haven't heard of Brutarian before? Well, you haven't been paying attention. They've become one of my most dependable markets, with the Dom, the publisher, buying pretty much every interview I offer him. Which is groovy, since Brutarian is a unique publication. And I don't use that term lightly. Take a gander at the cover to the current issue, no. 52 to be specific:



I want to know how Dom discovered my admiration for bodypainting? Combine it with a kind of hipster, late-60s, Charlton "Planet of the Apes" Heston aesthetic, and I figure most folks will end up buying the magazine for the cover art alone. But if you're not convinced, here's a small taste of the conversation I had with Mr. Haldeman, just to whet your appetite.

I’d like to talk just a little about another award you’ve recently been associated with: Your participation in the Oscar-nominated Operation Homecoming documentary. How did that come about?

***

It came about because the guy who’s in charge of the National Endowment for the Arts is a fan of my work, and he had to come up with a list of modern novelists who had written about war. He said I was one of the first he’d called.

It’s not something you do for money--it was an awful lot of work, actually. I feel for soldiers, I really think they’re getting a raw deal now, and anything I can do that makes their position more clear to the public is worth doing.

***

Do you ever get frustrated or exhausted by your constant association with the Vietnam War?

***

Well no, not really. I mean, I’m used to it. Often I’ll just try to deflect it. Of course, most of the things I’ve written don’t have anything to do with war. Of the things I’ve written about war, about half of them don’t have to do directly with Vietnam.

***

Do you ever feel restrained or unfairly pigeonholed because of being so defined as a writer by The Forever War?

***

Well, there’s no way I can get out of it now. I think a lot of people are defined by their early work. Every now and then I’ll get fan mail that says “Why don’t you write the Forever War again?” Gee, you know, I wish I was 26 again, too [Laughing]

There's a lot more good stuff where that came from. Plus (and you can think of this as a bonus) I've got a handful of book reviews in this issue as well: Blood & Thunder: The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard by one Mark Finn, Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock and Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer. If that doesn't move you to show Dom some love, you truly are a soulless automaton, and all hope is lost.