KAS INTERVIEWS – CONTRIBUTORS – DOUG GLASSFORD
How did you hear about the Kindle All-Stars project?
El Presidente Bernard Schaffer told me about it and invited me to submit a story. He is always looking for ways to be of service to both other writers and our communities so I did not want to disappoint him.
Tell us a little bit about your own work outside of the Kindle All-Stars.
Most of what I write is non-fiction, some ghosting, proofing, and editing. I do not write novels yet, I favor short fiction especially flash fiction.
What’s your favorite cryptid?
I lean toward sea creatures such as the Kraken and the Creature from Loch Ness. I have loved dinosaurs since I was a little kid. And, as I get closer to being a fossil myself, I am more hopeful that some actual dinosaurs and other legendary critters will be found living quietly amongst us in our own neighborhoods.
Tell us about your story – what’s it called and what’s it about?
It’s called, “Oh My Darling of the Deep Blue Sea.” It’s about the longing of an old man whose time to return home has come. This is a man whose love of open water sustained him in times of great sorrow: the loss of his only son to a foreign war, the loss of his beloved wife who did not quite recover from the loss of their son. A man who yearns for the cold dark waters of his ancestral home beside a loch in Scotland and the embrace of the secrets it keeps.
What was your process for writing your addition to CARNIVAL OF CRYPTIDS?
I am not sure how to answer this… I suppose I should say that I had an entirely different story I was working on, but had to switch horses so to speak when I discovered my particular creature tale did not meet the criteria of this anthology. So, while pondered over which of the sanctioned cryptids I should write about the title of this one came to me as a song. A little sea-faring ditty that I included in the story. The original story was much shorter than this short version. I guess my years of writing flash fiction and ADD snippets restrain me from fleshing out many stories. I rewrote this to make it a bit longer but not so long that I muddied it with filler. I am honored that it was accepted, especially amongst such able published authors.
What have you learned about the many different cryptids of the world as a result?
That perhaps we children of the 60’s & 70’s were not the first to enjoy common hallucinogens. What I discovered is that humanity loves to tell stories of what ifs and could bes. That mystery and a love for things not yet explained delight us as much as anything else in life does. Our desire to be opinion leaders, shamans, mystics, and keepers of arcane and occult wisdom and secrets lends itself to fabricating imaginary and fantastic creatures to keep our childlike wonder and desire for adventure alive. I have found that every generation wants to take credit for discovering the moon… to make its mark as being its own unique cadre of thrill-seekers and adventurers. Whether these creatures exist or not matters little to me… though, I really hope at least some of them do… I just love to see the spark of delight in the eyes of those who enjoy talking about them. Life is too short to have no fantasies, no improvable mysteries, or dull imaginations.
Moving on from CARNIVAL OF CRYPTIDS, what are you working on now?
Besides proofing and editing, I am working on some ghost rewrites for foreign Christian ministries and missionaries whose English translations do them disservice. I am working on a couple of children’s books with my beloved wife. And, I am working on several other fiction projects that may or may not turn out to be anything more than allowing me to run free and play as I develop my craft and skills at storytelling.
Finally, if you had one shot at selling this collection to a stranger in the street, what would you say?
“Pssst, Mac… over here. Have I got a deal for you…” Oh well, that might not work so good anymore. I would hate to have to try and sell it to Bubba or another scary cellmate.
I think I would search out someone who was reading something… other than the ads on the side of a passing bus… and, I would ask them what they are reading and do my best to discover if the reader enjoyed controversy, conspiracies, mysteries, or Scooby-Doo cartoons to make a connection. Then, I would direct them to our KAS CARNIVAL OF CRYPTIDS on Amazon and hope they did not think I was talking about a circus of gravediggers. Not everybody is going to like these stories… and though it’s a shame because this anthology is a delicious foray into what makes us start or shiver when we sense things we do not recognize or see out of the corner of our eyes… but, that’s okay. There are going to be so many more who will!
Maybe… “Pssst, Mac… over here…” might just work after all.
Twitter: @doogiehoser
Tony Healey 