Aldo Calcagno AKA Mystery Dog is the editor of Powder Burn Flash, Darkest Before The Dawn and CrimeWAV.
PDB) What was the first zine you were involved with and when was that?
Aldo)Powder Burn Flash was my first experience. It started three years ago when all of a sudden my favorite ezines and websites started to disappear such as Plots With Guns, Demolition and so forth. I wanted to keep alive a forum for writers to practice their craft and get feedback from readers on their stories. So, I started Powder Burn Flash.
PDB) Are you suprised by the success of Powder Burn Flash and DBD?
Aldo)Quite a bit. Here I was just a reader who enjoyed all this writing and I was a neophyte writer trying to work out the kinks in my own writing fielding many queries. If started out in a rush and I learned along the way how to edit and provide feedback, but fortunately, many of the original submissions were near perfect finished pieces that required little or no editing on my part, or so I felt.
After about 6 months, I started getting feedback and requests from a different group of writers who needed more room to flesh out their stories. They wanted to submit something to PBF, but couldn't shave it down to less than 1,000 words. Who am I to deny a writer a chance at publication, so I decided that I would open Darkest Before the Dawn and accept stories up to 10,000 words in any genre. I was blown away at the quantity and quality of stories.
A year later, I started working with Seth Harwood on producing the very successful CrimeWAV podcast. Out of this partnership, one of Seth's webmasters contacted me about moving the site away from a blog format and into a ezine website. I owe a great deal of the explosive success to both sites to Jason Andrews who worked with me to develop the current sites. They have a more professional appeal and the quality of the submissions have risen above my expectation.
PDB) Doesn't it sometimes seem like more work than it's worth?
Aldo)There are times when the real world gets in the way of doing what I enjoy. This is a true labor of love and my hope is at some point that I can make this a paying market so writers can earn something from their labors. For me, I really enjoy the interaction with the writers and the opportunity to help them develop their craft and have a forum for publishing their work.
It has also been fun working with Patti Abbott and Gerald So to organize and publish stories around Flash Challenges. When we get around to have one, usually quarterly, we generate a buzz that results in 15-25 stories being submitted around the theme. We all have a great deal of fun reading the work of all the participants.
One success that I would like to share is that the sites are generating some interest in the publishing world.
The highlight of the year came in December when Randy Rohn contacted me and said that Otto Penzler had been in contact with him and had selected a story that I published on Darkest for inclusion in the 2009 Best Short Stories.
Since then a few literary agents and major editors have contacted me regarding stories and authors who have been published.
10 comments:
Great interview and Powder Burn Flash is definitely one of the top CrimeZines. I'll have to go for a read of the Darkest Before Dawn.
Love the new photo at the top of the blog. Very interesting interview as to what goes on behind the scenes at an e-zine. I'll definitely be checking out Darkest Before Dawn -- I'd not heard of that one before.
Thanks Paul!
Sophie Littlefield, Kieran Shea, Nate Flexer, Frank Bill, Cormac Brown, Jimmy Callaway, Patti Abbott, Cameron Ashley, Jon Basoff (creator of New Pulp Press) Randy Rohn, Mike Knowles, Clair Dickson, Pearce Hansen, David Cranmer, Mark Kiewlak, Stephen Rogers, Paulie, and myself have all done time (and continue to do so) PBF and DBTD. Great work, Aldo, and thanks.
When I first started poking about the net for flash sites, I expected to find vanity press, deluded "writers" and editors both half-arseing it and struggling for content. I have never been more wrong (and HAPPY to be) in my life. Thanks to guys like Aldo, I sharpen my own game, talk to some seriously cool cats, passionate about their craft & read some gobsmacking content by writers who, if there was any justice, would have book deals. Cheers, Aldo.
The man is the patron saint of crime and mystery writers. I'm glad that you interviewed him Paulie, and as anyone can see from just the initial list that Keith has mentioned, it's about time that Aldo gets the credit that he deserves.
Aldo is a real nice guy and does a great job with the zines. Aldo also has a special place in my heart, publishing my first online crime short in Jan 07. Thanks Aldo!
Glad to see Aldo interviewed, he is the sweetest guy. I'm so glad to have a couple of pieces on Powderburn, it was the first site outside of Sixsentences.com that I submitted to. (Actually, the first piece was from one of those Flash Challenges you mentioned.) It's a pleasure to read other crime/noir writers and be inspired by how much genuinely good content is getting published online. Aldo and Paul are both stand up guys.
Thanks for this interview Aldo and and to everyone who stopped by. Aldo IS essential.
Aldo has certainly kept two of my fictional characters alive. For that I am very grateful.
Aldo is a great guy whose encouragement has been very much appreciated. The man truly loves noir, with a passion that is obvious. I owe him a story or five.
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