Heart-to-Heart with Eric Shapiro, author of Red Dennis

Posted on 27/12/2023 09:15:50

author : Shapiro, Eric

The Magic Book Corner is proud to present you today Eric Shapiro, who is both an awesome writer as well as a filmmaker.

Shapiro is the author of six critically acclaimed fiction books, among them the thriller "Red Dennis" and the novella "It's Only Temporary" (2005), which appeared on Nightmare Magazine's list of the Top 100 Horror Books, as well as numerous short stories published in anthologies alongside work by H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, and many others.

Here are a few of his titles for you to check out:

And here is our little Heart-to-Heart:

1. Hi Eric and welcome to The Magic Book Corner. To begin, could you please tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

Thanks for having me! I worked as a ghostwriter for 17 years, and now co-own a Silicon Valley newspaper and marketing company. In addition to journalism, under my own name I write dark fiction.

2. I have just finished your thriller - Red Dennis and absolutely loved it. How did the story of Red Dennis start? What inspired you to write it?

Thank you so much! I was interested in what would have to happen to make a relatively ordinary and together person snap. Naturally, I was applying the question to myself: What would it take to totally derail me? How much pressure would I have to be under to lash out? In real life, I don’t think I’d lash out like Dennis; I’d probably just let my anger eat me alive. But he takes things further; he’s out for blood.

3. Most of the thrillers out there are written from the perspective of either the victim or the law enforcer. You chose the POV of the psycho. Why?

I’m really curious about how the world works inside psychotic people’s minds. In fiction, psychos have been so often made into monsters--either literal ones like werewolves or vampires, or human beings who are exaggerated and extreme, like Hannibal Lecter. But I was interested in a guy who seems not only ordinary on the outside, but on the inside, too, especially to himself. He’s just pissed off and self-righteous. There’s nothing mythic about him. He’s kind of banal, which is part of what I think makes him scary.

4. I was impressed by the description of the character’s slow descent into madness. By the logic, reasons and emotions that felt both natural and real. You pull this off so amazingly well! What’s the secret behind it?

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that, as that was the main goal of the project: to take you down there with him, step by step. I wanted him to be as relatable a psycho as possible, to the point where it seems like he’s conceivably the good guy. Not the villain you love to hate--just not really a classic villain at all. I think I got through it by writing as though it was me. It was like performing the role as an actor, just on paper instead of for a camera or an audience. Each thing he said or disclosed, I intuitively tried to anchor in a truth I could relate to. The idea was that even though I’ve never killed anyone, I didn’t want to make him alien or “other.” I wanted the foundation of his actions to be relatable anger and pain. And not pitch black, extreme pain; more a feeling of being hurt, undermined, and excluded.

5. Why madness? Is there a specific reason you picked this topic?

I think all my fiction books are about madness, in one way or another. My debut short story collection, SHORT OF A PICNIC, was 12 short stories examining 12 different mental illnesses. I’ve written about sex addicts, abusers, schizophrenics, people who are panic-stricken. It’s because I have OCD and ADD (and though not diagnosed, have been professionally advised that I’m likely bipolar). I’m high-functioning and live an optimistic personal life, but mental illness is terrain I know very well.

6. This is a book about the #MeToo movement, gun violence, Nazis, and an embittered white male. Why did you choose to highlight these themes in particular?

I guess a lot of these themes are things I’m not “supposed to” talk about. As a white male, for example, I’ve been instructed to stay silent on the #MeToo movement, and allow for other voices to lead the conversion. But that mindset is leftover from a top-down, vertical world, wherein leaders above addressed those below. We’re in a horizontal world now, where everybody has a communication platform with which to speak. Most of us have social media. I also have my fiction and our family newspaper. When a topic is political, like #MeToo, or even gun violence, or Nazism, and it’s supposed to be taboo to speak about, I want to speak about it immediately, as it means there’s something fertile, uncomfortable, and human there. I don’t think any artist should heed instructions to stay in his lane or avoid certain topics; artists should be wired to explore and go toward uncomfortable places--and also of course take the criticism and dismissal that may follow.

7. You are the author of 22 distinct works. Are they all thrillers?

I think when you add in short stories placed in different anthologies, that number is right. Eight of them are my own full-length books (two of which came out this year). They’re all dark and have an element of suspense, but some are horror, some are sci-fi, some overlap, and like with RED DENNIS, there are a couple pure thrillers in there.

8. Six among them are critically acclaimed fiction books. Could you please tell our readers a little bit about them?

Love to! They’re 5 novellas and the 1 short story collection I mentioned above. The novellas span different stories and genres, but the aesthetic goal across all of them was to make them as exciting, intense, and hypnotic as possible, so it’s impossible to put them down or think about anything else while you’re reading them. That’s why I’m so into the principle of suspense: to sink that hook and let it propel the reader from the beginning to the end. If you have that tension operating as a drumbeat, all the other emotions--joy, sadness, humor, terror--come through stronger, as everything’s charged with a sense of urgency and epiphany. So the goal has always been, from the first sentence to the last, to keep it electrified. No build-up, very little subtlety--more like a fully committed piece of music that hopefully envelopes and carries you.

9. Among all your books, do you have a favorite? One that means more to you than the others? And if yes, why?

I don’t have a favorite but I feel particularly close to RED DENNIS since it’s the longest. I spent the most time inside of it: thinking about it, working on it, daydreaming, reflecting. The protagonist is fuller than the others, I think, because he takes up more psychic space. He’s also one of my only protagonists who’s not cool. I let my guard down with him (which I had done once before, with my novella DAYS OF ALLISON, where the narrator’s a loser). Dennis wants to be cool, and he might have been as a kid, but he’s now an absolute douchebag. So there I was at the keyboard tapping into no end of awkward, slimy, crappy things about myself. It’s hard to wash that off when you’re done writing!

10. You are both a writer and a filmmaker. Will you tell us a little about your films?

My two feature films are called RULE OF THREE and LIVING THINGS, and they’re both streaming on Amazon Prime. I’ve also adapted Jack Ketchum’s story MAIL ORDER and Greg F. Gifune’s stories HOAX and FIRST IMPRESSIONS into short films; they’re all on Prime, too. All pretty dark. LIVING THINGS, which is about a debate between a vegan and a meat-eater, is the tonal outlier, being a drama-satire, but it might have the darkest heart of them all.

11. As a founding partner of Ghostwriters Central, you have done a lot of ghostwriting and editing too. Was this before you started to write your own books?

I was more weaving between assignments and my own work. For years, I was glutted with ghostwriting jobs, and would steal maybe two weeks every year or so to write my own novella or screenplay.

12. Taking into account your experience, what would you say are the common pitfalls and clichés that should be avoided in a good thriller?

My taste is unconventional, so I’m not sure how useful this will be, but I really can’t stand normal, sane, or mentally healthy main characters (laughs). I think all of us are fucked up on some level, and that’s the truth I like fiction to reflect back to me. So definitely give us a main character with flaws, not some impeccable, generic good citizen--even if the person happens to be fundamentally decent or heroic.

13. And what would be an absolute DO NOT?

Just don’t lie. People know. It might lead to comfort in the short-term, but they’ll resent you for it over the long-term.

14. Are you working on any WIP at the moment? 1f yes, is there any publishing date planned?

No more prose books for now, as I’ve burnt myself out, but I’m working on some children’s books with my mom that we hope to drop over the summer.

15. Speaking about planning, are you a plotter or a pantser?

A little bit of both, but more of a plotter. There’s usually a structure, even if it’s loose, in the beginning of the process, and that becomes my field of play.

16. On a more personal note, have you encountered any difficulties in your writing career?

Definitely! I’ve had so many publishers go out of business, even ones that were in healthy shape when they signed me. I consistently get my galleys back with formatting errors. I’ve been paid advances that haven’t earned out. I’ve had books get great reviews but hardly sell. That’s the fiction side. The journalism and ghostwriting sides have had more out and out career momentum. But the fiction side, despite the hurdles, offers more joy in the act of creation.

17. And lastly, is there any advice you would have for aspiring writers, or perhaps a message to our readers?

Tell the truth every single time. It’ll make you stand out. It’s a more rare trait than we lead ourselves to believe.

About the Author: Eric Shapiro

Eric Shapiro is a writer and filmmaker.

Called "the next Philip K. Dick" by author Kealan Patrick Burke, Shapiro is the author of seven critically acclaimed fiction books, among them the novella "It's Only Temporary" (2005), which appeared on Nightmare Magazine's list of the Top 100 Horror Books, and numerous short stories published in anthologies alongside work by H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, and many others.

His nonfiction articles have been published on The Daily Dot, Ravishly, LGBT Talk, and The Good Men Project.

His first feature film, "Rule of 3" (2010), won awards at the Fantasia International Film Festival and Shriekfest, and had its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest.

His second feature film, "Living Things" (2014), was endorsed by PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals) and distributed by Cinema Libre Studio. In 2015, he won the 19th Annual Fade In Award for Thriller Screenplays.

He is a founding partner of Ghostwriters Central, a writing and editing firm which has received positive notices from The Wall Street Journal, Consumers Digest, and the TV program "Intelligence For Your Life." Eric has edited works published on The Huffington Post and Forbes, as well as two Bram Stoker Award-nominated novels. He lives in Northern California with his wife, Rhoda, and their two sons. And also runs the newspaper The Milpitas Beat.

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Heart-to-Heart with Eric Shapiro, author of Red Dennis

About the Author: Eric Shapiro

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