AMES: First, thank you for your time during this short interview. I really enjoyed this volume of Tales from the Lake. I know you spent a lot of hours reading stories, so much time that you had to go to the doctor to check out your eyes. You really made sure that the best of the best made it into this anthology. Please walk us through how this all came about. Did Crystal Lake Publishing approach you? Have you done this before?
EADS: The pleasure is mine. Thanks for having me, and
thank you so much for the kind words! Although I didn’t know it, I already had
a pre-existing medical condition, so editing helped me get it fixed before it
became a problem. Joe Mynhardt CEO and Founder of Crystal Lake Publishing asked me if I would like to edit Tales Vol:
4. I was over the moon! I said yes, and then we discussed where “Lake” should
go, and what my vision was. I’m very pleased with the outcome. The contributors
made my job easy picking the final TOC.
AMES: Some selections editors only read the first
couple pages of a short, believing that a story has to capture the reader and
never let go. When selecting stories, did you read each story all the way
through before making a decision?
EADS: Nope. I’d still be reading submissions. Ha! An
editor knows after reading the first sentence whether it passes or not. Hence
the ten minute rejections you see writers post about on Facebook. To be fair, I
read the first paragraph of each story. Then you know everything you need to
make a decision. Some were really good in the first act and second act but
either fell flat in the third act, or didn’t have a third act at all.
AMES: To you, what is the most important aspect of a
short story? Atmosphere? Wordplay? Characters you care about? A twist? Or
something else entirely?
EADS: A story can’t be a one-trick-pony, so you can’t
focus on one aspect—the anthology would suffer, and so would my editing career.
I was looking for power and resonance. Something that will take a reader
through a harrowing journey and leave them haunted. Many things factor into
what gives a story power. The quality of stories I was looking for was quite
high. So all of those things you listed above and many, many more.
AMES: How important is voice in the short story
format? What short stories / novels would you recommend for lessons in voice?
EADS: Whether the fiction is short or long… voice is
everything. You can have great characters, a nice flow, great arcs, but if
there is no powerful voice to grab the reader, it’s a waste. Voice gives the
actual story life, and so much more. Examples? Short Fiction: Pop Art, Joe Hill; Any story from October Country, Ray Bradbury; A good
deal of short fiction by Kelly Lynk. Novel: The
Girl Next Door, Jack Ketchum; IT,
Stephen King; Swamplandia!, Karen
Russell; 1Q84, Haruki Murakami.
Novella: 1922, Stephen King; Old Man Scratch, Rio Youers. These are
recent examples, of course. I could go on, and on, and on. Ha!
AMES: What did you learn from this process that has
changed your own writing?
EADS: I’m always looking to improve my craft and grow
as a writer. It was just another reminder to raise my aspirations as a writer
and author.
AMES: Thanks again for agreeing to this short
interview. I look forward to the next volume.
EADS: Thank you, man! Deeply appreciated.
BIO: Ben Eads is a writer, author, and editor of horror
fiction. A true horror writer by heart, he wrote his first story at the tender
age of six. The look on the teacher’s face when she read it was priceless.
Since then, his fiction has been published by Shroud Magazine, Crystal Lake
Publishing, numerous anthologies, and his first novella Cracked Sky was published by the Bram
Stoker Award-wining press Omnium Gatherum.
He loves martial arts and is a student of the Japanese sword.
Would you like to know more? Check out these links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ben.eads.58
Website: www.beneadsfiction.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ben_Eads
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/beneads
Book Links
Draven's Review of Tales from the Lake Vol. 4 (November 6th)
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