Interview with Claude Lalumière

Website: http://lostpages.net

Where did the idea come from?

“What to Do with the Dead” is part of my Lost Myths series, in which I play around with the various forms of myth storytelling. Other stories in this cycle have appeared on the webzines Reflection’s Edge and Lone Star Stories. There are many more on the way. I hope to do a whole book of these.

How is this story like your other work? How is it different?

In general my Lost Myths are written in a folksy “oral storytelling” style, which is different from the range of voices I usually employ. They also tend to rely on twist endings, not a tactic I tend to use in my other fictions.

How long had you been submitting before you made your first sale?

Three years.

Do you work with a critique or writers group?

For a few years, I worked with The Montreal Commune — Glenn Grant, Yves Meynard, Mark Shainblum, Jean-Louis Trudel, and several others who came and went — but now Elise Moser is my first reader, and sometimes I might have one or two other friends look at near-final drafts.

What authors, if any, have had the most influence on your work?

In no particular order:
J.G. Ballard. The short fiction of Robert Silverberg. Rachel Pollack. Ursula Le Guin, c. 1970-84. R.A. Lafferty. Roger Zelazny, pre-Amber. Geoff Ryman. Paul Di Filippo. Jonathan Carroll. The short fiction of Theodore Sturgeon. Philip José Farmer. Jacques Sternberg. Chuck Palahniuk. The David Pringle era of Interzone. There are others, of course, but those are probably the strongest influences I can identify.

Favorite short story you’ve read recently?

“Beat the Geeks” by Peter Darbyshire, in Tesseracts Eleven, edited by Cory Doctorow & Holly Phillips.

Do you believe in ghosts or the supernatural? Why?

No. Why should I?

Fast food: Yea or Nay?

Well, if it’s vegetarian and healthy, why not? Otherwise, nay.

Name one place in your hometown that you love to go to and would recommend to others to visit.

The Jean-Talon Market.

Is there anything that you would “sell your soul” for?

No soul to sell, but I’m willing to sell it to any sap who thinks there’s something to buy.

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