Richard Godwin Interview

Richard Godwin Interview

Back in June I interviewed Richard Godwin at PULP METAL MAGAZINE. Here is the interview.

1. Sex or death? Which fuels your writing the most?

While they are two prevalent themes in my writing, they are not the only ones by any stretch of the imagination. The two are inextricably connected. The Elizabethans referred to orgasm as the ‘little death’. We come out of the darkness and will return to it inevitably, whatever religious concept you want to impose on that.

Humans use sex to ward off their own mortality. The huge industry surrounding plastic surgery is a good illustration of this as is the endless model of youth that Hollywood spawns.

2. Noir, and pulp in general, is usually seen as something that only the Americans do or do best. Do you agree? Do you consider yourself to be a British writer?

I think that more noir and pulp writing has come out of the Unites States and that much of it is first class. The States has some outstanding heavyweights among its writers across the board but it does not hold a monopoly on noir or pulp.

Ted Lewis was a key figure in the 1970′s revival of British noir. His novel Jacks Returns Home was filmed as Get Carter. Since the eighties we’ve had writers such as Nicholas Blincoe.

I see myself as an English writer with a lot of respect for my own country as well as the great American writers. Literature and storytelling are a global phenomenon.

3. Tell us about the theatre; the roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd.

There are so many great dramatists from England. I am a huge admirer of Beckett for his minimalist simplicity. Someone who writes great dialogue today is the American playwright David Mamet. The theatre can be seen as a vehicle for exploring the dramas that affect us all. Some people interact and some people don’t, they’re enacting some form of solipsistic monologue, and that in itself is revealing.

My play ‘The Cure-All’ was staged at The Questors Theatre and went down very well. It is a comedy about a group of confidence tricksters using the New Age to rip off a bunch of greedy gulls. The thing about comedy is you know you’re hitting the right buttons if the audience laugh. They did. The greasepaint roared.

4. Which short stories would you have liked to have written?

I’ve never thought about it, but two that spring to mind are Stephen King’s ‘The Road Virus Heads North’ and if we can count a novella Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart Of Darkness’.

5. Your bloody footprints have been all over the interweb for about a year. What were you doing before?

Paying the bills and writing.

6. Do you think the ezines are a good breeding ground for writing talent in the  same way that the old  pulp magazines were?

Absolutely.

The publishing industry’s in trouble, we’ve just come out of a global recession and it’s arguable if it’s over, we live in an age where formula writing rules as does the craving for gossip on celebrities. The ezines you and I know about out there, especially the American ones are full of talent. There are many writers there who should be in print. Agents don’t want to take a risk and the publishers are obsessed by profit. In the States people still want to read good stories, which is great. I think the comparison with the old pulp magazines is a sound one. Behind the ezines are dedicated hardworking editors.

7. Are you working on a great unfinished novel or is it finished?

It’s finished, and will be published early next year.

8. Your writing is very vivid and full of strong images. Do you have any interest in writing for the silver screen?

Yes, it would interest me, crossing genres always take some adapting but with fiction basically you’re dealing with more dialogue these days. Many writers such as Cormac McCarthy write dialogue based prose at times. Elmore Leonard is easily adaptable to film because his fictions are dialogue oriented.

It would be nice, know anyone who wants a script writer Paul?

9. What’s on the cards for 2010?

Getting my novel ready for publication and more stories. My new site will be up shortly and more information will be available there.

10. Ask The audience:

From Richard to YOU!

If you had to identify one ingredient above all others that you look for and appreciate in a piece of fiction, what would it be?

BIO: Richard Godwin is a produced playwright whose crime novel 

has been accepted for publication later this year.

He writes crime and horror and his stories can be found at many vibrant magazines, among them A Twist Of Noir, Disenthralled, Word Catalyst and Danse Macabre. You can also find them in the recent anthologies ‘Back in 5 Minutes ‘ by Little Episodes Publishing and ‘Howl’ by Lame Goat Press.

He blogs here

http://richardgodwin.wordpress.com/