[scarabic] Gene Santagada is a writer of dark fiction and a tarantula breeder. His fiction is appearing in such periodicals as Mind Rot, Bare Bone, Cyber-Psychos AOD, and Nocturnal Ecstasy -- Vampire Chronicle. His Letters to the Editor can be found on the Cyber-Psychos AOD web site. He has a tarantula article in the upcoming Morbid Curiosity #2, which leads to his tarantula (and other eight-legged critters) breeding habits. Gene brought about 150 arachnids to Death Equinox '97, and is considered our official arachnologist.
*scarabic gestures for Gene to take the podium.
*genexs takes the podium.
[scarabic] Do you have any further introductory comments to add?
[genexs] I've been writing fiction for about 5 years. Mostly dark fiction, some SF, and some non-fiction. My stuff has been published in a number of zines and on the web. I also have co-authored a few scientific papers.
[scarabic] As a fiction writer, what's the type of reject that ticks you off the most?
[genexs] The one where it's clear they have not read my stuff. At least I wish to see a checklist, but the "thank you very much, why not sub something else?" is a tick off. Also, the next to worst, "this is the sickest, most twisted, thing I have ever seen" "I have read 500 mss this year, and yours is the one that gave me nightmares" "but sorry, it's just not right for us." That ticks me off.
[scarabic] "You actually scared us, so we can't publish you. Our horror audience might not like getting scared."
[genexs] If you have written something that truly gets to someone, but yet they don't publish it -- that is weird
[scarabic] Do you think the genres are getting too weak, and encouraging a continued decline?
[genexs] I don't really think the genres are getting weak, it's just the genre becomes a sort of fetish. It just says the same thing over and over again, so it becomes a trap. This is what happened to SF. Well, I think that is weak in a way or else genres get odd as they go more mainstream. I once got a reject because my vampire story, that I sub'ed to a goth vampire zine, had violence in it!
[scarabic] Well, vampires are peacenik vegetarians. ;)
[genexs] lol. "No stories with violence in them." Well, I can top that. I just got guidelines form a Vamp zine that said "No stories with vampires in them". Bah haw haw.
(SNIP through Writing 101 and Fetishistic Basics.)
[cygnusX1] Do you think that your interest in eroticism of the kinky sort is connected to your interest in horror fiction?
[genexs] Well, of course it relates to everything. I can't really split things up like that. I was always interested in exotic animals -- snakes, spiders, tarantulas -- from the time I was 4 or 5. When I started getting into sex as a pre-teen I was pretty vanilla, well, I liked to jerk off to Penthouse and Playboy; you know, wholesome family- oriented stuff. But when I was around 16-17, I started liking the pics when the women had garters or were partially dressed. I began, slowly, to find that more appealing. I did not realize it was a "fetish" or whatever the heck that is, it's just something I liked. I did not find out about the whole kink-pervy world till later. I think vanilla sex is tired. You can reach altered states through kinky sex. Vanilla sex is just so boring, it's like in Hellraiser: "It's never enough, never enough..." I think that sums up my attitude. Also... people who are into this sort of thing are very into communicating, and expressing their wants and desires, more so than straight people. The level of communication is so much deeper.
(SNIP through loss of control in bed.)
[cygnusX1] OK. What I meant is more the illusion of loss of control, that is achieved through deep trust. A good author establishes a similar relationship with the reader.
[genexs] I think you are referring to the suspension of disbelief, but any good writer should really be able to get to his reader. Everyone writes because they are trying to express something important. They want to wrap the reader up, carry them along, show them what really disturbs them... and hopefully it's a satisfactory trip. But the writing should be true and good, I hate much of the crap I see. It's so easy -- well it does take work -- to get to people. Jas, some of your fiction has really grabbed me. I think about it, for days afterward, I reread it and dwell on the things that really got to me. The things that hurt, or cut, or expose. If a writer can not do that, what am I reading them for?
(SNIP through important aspects of writing, respected authors, and prions.)
[scarabic] Obligatory question #1: What prompted your obsession with arachnids?
[genexs] Oh you! Well, I always thought they were neat. I loved um. At first, as a kid, I was a little afraid of them, but they looked so damn ugly I could not help but be fascinated by them. They are like little robots, they are just so damn fascinating. For some reason I always was attracted to them. One thing I really like is they are always wild, they are untamable. They are what they are, they are like little computers or Terminators, that is something I have liked about exotic animals: you cannot anthropomorph them with your feelings.
[scarabic] #2, and speaking of spiders... As an attending member, and dealer, at Death Equinox '97 what was your overall impression of the con?
[genexs] The con was great. I met some great fucking people. It was bizarre to meet people I previously only knew on-line. Although I had a snail-mail and email track record with you (Jas) most of the other Cyber-Psychos I had only met through the mailing list, the newsgroup, or irc. People project an online persona that is very different than they are in person. I wondered what a Chris Yardley, or a Mike Hemmingson, would really be like. I was sure someone would kill me [grin]. But I had a blast (genexs offers cheers as he sips a beer). And there were so many of them! One thing that was great: the hotel staff loved us. I thought they would be terrified the second they got a load of us. But most, the night crew anyway, got into the spirit of things! One fellow even helped DE staff carry in the medieval rack. They clearly want us back. Now that is weird! The only negative crit I have is that I wish more people had attended. More people should have attended! But for a first time convention, I suppose attendance was not bad. Shit, I liked everything though. The panels were great, the music was fantastic. One other thing, as a dealer, I sometimes felt I was trapped in the dealers' room. I really wanted to be attending panels, or workshops, or just carousing. That was a bummer.
[scarabic] Which events in particular had the most affect on you (and what were the affects)?
[genexs] The most mind numbing experience of the con, and perhaps of my life, was the performance of Little Fyodor and Babushka. Like some ineffable thing from a HP Lovecraft story, no words adequately describe the experience. During the Little Fyodor performance, I realized some of the lyrics of his songs must have been written as secret messages to me. Now I understand how Manson and his followers feel about the Beetles [grin]. Getting to whip your (Jas') ass during your reading of Without Pain, Without Death was also memorable. It was great meeting other writers.
[scarabic] What are your hopes for Death Equinox '98? (Besides more people, heh.)
[genexs] Ok, well, I hope I sell more spiders! But spreading the word on how great arachnids are will be good enough. I hope the Theremin workshop gets off the ground sometime. I would like to spend more time in the computer workshops, especially with Chris Yardley and Gordon Klock of Tantric Lobotomy Commission. Hmm, maybe we could do some videos of my spiders? But I am going to attend more readings. I missed so many good ones.
[scarabic] #3: What about the world compelled you to start the Letters to the Editor?
[genexs] Ha! The Letters to the Editor... Well, you did. I was in Barnes and Noble one day, when I spied Cyber-Psychos AOD on the shelf. It had red in the title, so I knew you knew something about marketing, so I figured I'd check it out. I liked the fiction. It was good, different, I liked it. The music reviews were some of the best I have seen: better than the Voice, Spin, those rags. And I liked your rant. So it was a gestalt sort of thing. I had a pile of rejections and I figured, gosh, I gotta write something this person would like. I did the first letter, because it was a short-short-short. I liked Jas' mix of fiction, and non-, that is a hard thing to do, so I thought fiction as a letter to the editor was a good mix. The reality is, of course, most of the letters are true -- or about 80% so. Anyway... I sent it off formally, about 3 weeks later I got a letter in the mail... Not even my story back! I thought That bitch! Well, I opened the letter and she said: "Well, my fiction market is closed... But, because it is so short, I think I can fit it in." Jas was my "first". So, I consider myself joined to her hip.
(SNIP through outro.)
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