My interview with The Dread Machine for Mixtape: 1986

I was recently interviewed by The Dread Machine for their upcoming anthology Mixtape: 1986. I was lucky enough to land a story in this anthology and am very much looking forward to reading the book when it’s published early next year. There are a LOT of great authors in this one. But I digress. Please read on for my interview:

What called you to submit to Mixtape: 1986?

I’m a fierce fan of the decade, seeing as I grew up in the 80’s. None of us knew it then, but it was such a unique period to experience, with so many notable contributions to music, fashion, movies, and TV, not to mention all the ridiculously great toys. Micro Machines anyone? Garbage Patch Kid trading cards? Simon? I mean, c’mon! It was a pop culture explosion.

 As far as why I submitted to Mixtape, there’s been such an ‘80’s renaissance in recent years, and I was only too happy to take a shot at the anthology call in hopes I could add my own stamp to it, if only a little.

 Did your own childhood influence your writing in any way, and if so, how?

Yes—My story, in a way, is a direct reflection of time spent at various summer camps during my youth. I remember this feeling of tremendous independence being away from my parents for a week. (A whole week!) And fear…mainly of all the pretty girls running around everywhere. The height of excitement was always the camp dance, where the guys would stand on one side of the room in awe of all the scrunchy-haired, lip-glossed beauties standing on the other. It was a fearsome divide to cross—that long, empty gap—but I finally gathered the courage and slow danced with a member of the opposite sex for the first time. The movie Ghost was huge about then, and I can still hear Unchained Melody ringing through the speakers if I close my eyes and summon the memory.

What is the coolest thing from the 80s, in your opinion?

The music, no doubt: Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Van Halen. All the sappy stuff, too. Give me your hair bands and keyboards! I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention all the great television. Shows like Fraggle Rock, Alf, and the A-Team. Talk about nostalgia! And what was so cool is you usually watched them as a family at the scheduled times. It was a way to connect and spend some time together with those you cared about. The 80’s were a time of togetherness in a lot of ways.

What about the 80s do you find the most unsettling, looking back from 2021?

The AIDS crisis. Not the disease itself, but the way those afflicted were stigmatized and isolated without much hope for a cure. I lost my favorite uncle to the disease. He was gay and died in his early thirties, and it wasn’t an easy thing to watch. There was a lot of fear there. As a kid, it really scarred me.  

What other projects are you working on? (Writers: Provide links to stuff so we can point readers where you want them to go!)

I just finished up my third novel, a dark psychological thriller about family and the damage we do to those closest to us, often without meaning to. It’s been the most difficult writing project of my career so far, but also the project of which I am proudest. I hope it finds a publisher who loves it as much as me.