Nightmare Magazine Issue 6

by Molly Tanzer

  You have devoted a lot of effort to helping other writers improve, both in their craft and in living the writing life. Why is it important to you to pay it forward? What advice or support has had the most impact on your own development as a writer and in the way you have approached your career?

  I grew up thinking that being a writer meant being involved in literature in all ways. Not just to write fiction, but to write nonfiction, to edit, to perhaps run a publishing house from time to time. And part of that too is the idea that your own success is likely to involve the help of other people, and that it just naturally should be part of what you do—to return the favor. Michael Moorcock embodies all of these virtues and was a big influence. When he got me my first big break by introducing me to his agent and I thanked him, all he said was, “pay it forward.” There have been lots of other people who have been inspirational as well. My wife Ann first and foremost.

  You’re a prolific fiction and nonfiction writer and editor who usually juggles multiple projects at once. Which of your current works-in-progress are you most excited about right now? What forthcoming publications can we expect to see soon?

  I am about to turn in Wonderbook: An Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction (Abrams Image), which is a groundbreaking creative writing book in that it has over 200 full-color images, many of which replace instructional text. And though it’s for any beginning or intermediate writer, it takes as its foundation fantastical fiction rather than realism. Then I start work on the second and third novels in the Southern Reach series, which is about a strange forbidden zone and the expeditions that try to discover what is going on there. Those books will be out from Farrar, Strauss & Giroux in 2014. I’m also working on two other novels: The Book Murderer and Borne. I also keep my hand in at editing Weirdfictionreview.com and will soon begin work on editing a 900-page omnibus of the fiction of the great Finnish writer Leena Krohn. There are also several secret projects.

  E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and a public library in Yonkers, New York. He has published short fiction in a variety of print and online magazines and anthologies, and his young adult novels, Fair Coin and Quantum Coin, are available now from Pyr Books. He currently lives with his wife, two doofy cats, and a mild-mannered dog in Philadelphia, and shares way too much information about his personal life at ecmyers.net and on Twitter @ecmyers.

  Coming Attractions

  Coming up in April, in Nightmare . . .

  We’ll have original fiction from Marc Laidlaw (“Bonfires”) and Weston Ochse (“Gravitas”), along with reprints by Angela Slatter (“The Coffin Maker’s Daughter”) and Elizabeth Hand (“The Bacchae”). We’ll also have the latest installment of our column on horror, “The H Word,” plus author spotlights with all of our authors, a showcase on our cover artist, and a feature interview.

  It’s another great issue, so be sure to check it out. And while you’re at it, tell a friend about Nightmare. Thanks for reading!