John Bruni: Mid-List Contender

If it was not for this guy, I’d be dead. Plain and simple. We met when we were just kids, in the early so-called “Glory Days” of high school. Though in different classes we had the same English teacher, an incredibly kick ass lunatic named Mr. Sibley, and he suggested we critique each other being that we were “the best writers in my classes.” Hey, he said that, not me.

 

Little did I know I’d be hit with a pile of PK Fighters. You’ll never read those, and lucky for you. We, of course, thought they rocked. I don’t think the prick ever read my fucking story but that’s fine—the story sucked anyway. What did not suck was collaborating together on the infamous “Misadventures of Richard Thruster” series, and leaving these horrors in various places around York High School for people to pick up at random. I think many authors have done similar things—Stephen King talks about doing a very similar thing in ON WRITING.

 

I took the heat. His life was decent and mine was a slum. Why fuck him up, dig? Anyway…this is the JOHN BRUNI INTERVIEW. He is the author of two published novels, STRIP and TALES OF QUESTIONABLE TASTE and has been published many times over next to big names such as Lansdale and Laymon, most notably in CEMETERY DANCE. These days he busts his ass (or fingers) to make the mid-list, and he’s damn close. Aside from being my initial reader, worst critic, sometime literary agent, and basically a pain in the balls, I am very proud to call him my greatest and longest friend. He is my brother.

 

Okay enough bullshit. On to the questions!

 

 

What started you writing?

 

“When I was a kid, I didn’t have many friends.  As a result, I read a lot, and one day, maybe around my kindergarten year, while I was playing with my toys, I realized that instead of acting out made up stories with my G.I. Joes and Transformers, I could actually write down my own tales.  I started doing that, and I haven’t looked back since.”

 

Your focus and drive outshines many of your contemporaries. Why?

 

“The thing with me is I’m addicted to writing.  If I go a day without doing it, I start getting fidgety, and I start to pay less attention to the world around me and more to the things happening inside my head.  The problem might be with my contemporaries not realizing that this is actually hard work.  You have to create a lie imbued with truth at its center, and you have to inject that into someone else’s head, to make them not just understand it, but to buy it.  That takes a lot of focus and drive, whereas most writers tend to talk and complain about writing and the industry rather than actually writing.”

 

If you weren't writing, you'd do well at just about anything. Why struggle so hard with such a risky career?

 

“It is a risky career with a lot of hard work and very little pay-off, unless you luck out and become a bestselling author (which, by the way, doesn’t happen anymore for my kind of work).  Would I like to earn a lot of money?  Yes, but that’s not my focus.  I have been entertained for many years by my favorite authors, and I want nothing more than to join their ranks as a reliable entertainer, a writer whose readers eagerly look forward to the next book or story.”

 

What separates your work from that of others?

 

“It’s tempting to say that I push the envelope farther than most, but in these days, there is a lot of envelope pushing.  I’d also like to say that it’s because I’m a terrible god to my characters, and that comes off as shocking, as well.  I think, though, that it’s because I write about these awful things with a certain degree of charm, kind of like a gentleman scumbag.”

 

Is writing a gift or a curse?

 

“Both.  It can take great hunks of life away from you, since you have to spend a great deal of time alone at a keyboard.  It can also drive you a little crazy, and very few people around you understand why that is.  Family members and non-writer friends think you’re just messing around, and that you should be doing other, more important things instead.  Hell, anyone can write a novel, right?  Well . . . not really, but they’ll never understand that.  However, there is that moment when you write something that has an impact on someone’s life, and it is an amazing moment, completely unforgettable.  When that happens, it makes my existence worth it.”

 

What experiences from your life (or the lives of others) do you draw on in order to come up with tales?

 

“I’ve led a shitty life, and I tend to be surrounded by people who have also led shitty lives.  Unsurprisingly, I think it’s the shit that makes for much more interesting reading.  As the old saying goes, ‘If it bleeds, it leads.’  That isn’t to say that there isn’t value in the good stuff, but it doesn’t have the same impact.”

 

Why do you think many writers end up addicts?

 

“Because writing itself is addictive.  Ask a bunch of writers why they write, and chances are, 99.9% of them will say because they have to.  They can’t not.  But if you go a bit deeper, you’ll also notice that it’s easy for us to acquire other addictions, because substances—be they alcohol, heroin, or what have you—lead to interesting situations.  Situations off the beaten path.  Situations we can use in our writing.  It’s easy to rely on something like that, so much so that you lose contact with the original addiction, meaning writing itself.  Also, since writing is such a solitary thing to do, it’s easy to find comfort in a soothing addiction.”

 

You've called a few writers geniuses. Who are they and why?

 

“Joe R. Lansdale is at the top of the list.  That man can make you laugh at someone being drawn, quartered, and sodomized, yet at the same time he manages to retain a moral high ground.  Clive Barker, because his work is overflowing with the innocent wonder of a child, yet at the same time can assail you with situations even a seasoned adult would blanch at.  H.P. Lovecraft, because he pretty much created the subgenre of cosmic horror, a universe so unforgiving that the human race—who believes itself to be the most important creation ever—actually doesn’t matter.  Jack Ketchum, because he cuts through all the bullshit and lays open the human spirit in all its hideous glory.  Hunter S. Thompson, a visionary who took no shit and kicked every ass who got in his way.  I could go on forever.  I don’t think we have enough room for any more writers.”

 

Which of your writings make you the most proud?

 

“I love my second book, TALES OF QUESTIONABLE TASTE, which is a collection of short stories.  I initially submitted a version with more tales in it, but StrangeHouse had to keep the book down to a certain size or risk having to charge more for it.  I definitely see why they cut it down, but I still wish I could have squeezed more stories in there.”

 

Having had two books published what advice would you give budding writers?

 

“I would say that tenacity is the most important tool in your box.  If you don’t have that, then maybe you weren’t meant to be a writer.  Also, while the internet is a wonderful creation, and it can be used as a fantastic research tool, you probably shouldn’t spend more time there than actually writing.  Social media is fun, but remember your priorities.  Don’t get pissed off at editors when they reject your work; just shrug it off and move on to the next submission.  And lastly, remember to keep reading.  You will never know everything there is to know about writing, so you’ll be learning by example for the rest of your life.”