Interviews

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Interview with Luc

Where are you from?

I’m originally from Schenectady, New York but spent about half my life growing up in “Cow Country, NY.”

Tell us your latest news?

I don’t really have any “latest news.” I’m not important or interesting enough to have “news.”

When and why did you begin writing?

I don’t remember a time “before writing.” I have always used writing as a form of escape, much like reading. When I was a kid I used to write the worlds I wanted to live in. As I grew up, I wrote more to purge the contents of my head.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I’m a writer? Who says that? I’m not sure, yet, that I consider myself a writer. I think of myself more as “someone who writes.”

What inspired you to write your first story?

The first one in my entire life that I can remember was inspired by a class writing assignment. It was in first grade and was called “The Night of the Ghost Prowler. But the first story of my more or less adult life was inspired by a dream.

Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?

My writing has been influenced by everything I have ever read. Every writer has a different way of manipulating language, of using words to paint pictures in the mind. I know I have absorbed something from every word I have read. My writing has also been influenced by my life. I don’t see how it could be otherwise. We are formed by every moment of our life, every experience, every thought we have. Every moment of my life has influenced the words I write.

How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?

As I said in the previous question, every moment of my life has influenced the words I write. I think, specifically, some of the less pleasant things I have experienced have made some of my writing dark. But all of my writing, I think, tends to be a bit “psychological,” touching on the things that go on inside the head—my characters’ heads, but really my own.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I really had to think about this. I suppose much of what I write is in the first person, from inside the character’s head. I guess that is my “style,” that I tend to focus very strongly on what my characters are feeling. When I write, I am inside my character. My characters think a lot.

What genre are you most comfortable writing?

I don’t know. My writing is all over the place. But what I really enjoy writing are stories where the main character has a touch of madness, a slightly skewed perspective. And I like to write things that are short and capture a moment. I think my poetry is like that, also.

How did you come up with the title for your story(s)?

Most of the time the title hits my head first and then the story or poem forms around it.

Is there a message in your story that you want readers to grasp?

I hate to say it because it makes me sound like I take myself seriously, but yes, usually. There is usually something in either the story (or poem) or the characters that I really want the reader to notice, to think about. Often it is just that I want the reader to think, to see through another’s eyes for a moment.

How much of your story is realistic?

All of my characters come from inside me and most have something of me, of my life, of my experiences, in them. For everything I have written, I could point to something in my life and say, “That’s where that came from.”

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your life?

Yes, without exception. That doesn’t mean all my characters or my stories are “about” someone or something in my life. But I draw on my reality to create my fiction.

What books/stories have most influenced your life?

I have been influenced by everything I have ever read. But the book that influenced me most is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, which I first read when I was 13. It influenced my thinking, my perception of life and of the effects of the passage of time. It really gave me my first sense of the existence within each of us of good and evil. And it made me question whether influence of any kind is a good thing or a corrupting thing. I guess overall, this book made me think. Another book that influenced me greatly is Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. I would have to say that it was the first book I ever read that made me aware of sensuality. I remember reading it and thinking that the words and the images made me feel like my fingers were running over satin. It awakened that in me.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

I am “unmentored” really. Which is probably reflected in my writing—in what I perceive as my lack of “finished” quality. If I ever reach a point in my head where I consider my writing to be “worthy,” I will seek some advice from one or two writers whose writing makes me really realize how writing SHOULD be.

What are you reading now?

I’m reading a few things online: Erebi Seeking by Lugh, Someday Out of the Blue by Little BuddhaTW and From Behind Those Eyes by Viv.

What new author has grasped your interest?

I haven’t been prowling the internet for that long, really, so I don’t have a great sense of who is “new” and who is not, and I haven’t been to a bookstore in far too long. But I am completely hooked on Lugh’s writing.

What are your current projects?

Well, I am currently writing something that was meant to be my submission for the Summer Anthology. It has already gone over the word limit, however, so it will just have to be something else. When it is done, I’ll figure out something else for the anthology.

Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

I can’t name just one. I have two friends, Mark and Rob, who have read just about everything I have ever written over the past few years while it was in progress and have given me feedback and encouragement. I tend to find fault with everything I write and they have both kept me writing when I have really wanted to just burn everything I have ever written.

How does your family and/or friends feel about your book or writing venture in general?

I have never really shared my writing with my family. When I was a kid, my dad read my stories and my poems; but since then, except for a poem or two, no one in my family has read anything I have written. I have had a couple of friends in my “real life” that I have trusted enough to let read some things I have written. But there is too much of “me” in most of my writing to share with people I have to look at. I know that sounds strange.

Do you see writing as a long- or short-term career?

It is something I will do as long as I can think and type. Even if I never write anything that anyone ever reads, I will still be writing. It clears my head and gives me my escape.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything?

I don’t know. I have a great sense of “the butterfly effect.” If I change something, what else would change? So really, probably no.

Is there anything additional you would like to share with your readers?

Yeah, two things. First, I hear a lot of people say they would love to write a story but can’t write. Everyone can write. Writing releases the things that are trapped in your head—and you never know who may be touched by your word. Second, if you read something, take a moment to give the writer some feedback—even if it is not positive. I would rather hear the words, “You know, that really sucked” than to hear the sound of crickets chirping in the silence. I suspect most people who write feel that way.