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the web-zine with a sense of (warped)
humor
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| Trent has worked on a ship, in a nursing home, a pizza parlor, a potato factory, and as a New Orleans distributor of fermented beverages. He began medical school in the Fall of 2000. His story ‘Driven like Snow’ appeared in the very first issue of TSC. |
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Tell us about yourself I'm a poor med student flunking my way through school. How long have you been interested in writing Since seven, when I competed with another unwitting student to see who could write the weirdest fairy tale. A year later I wrote my first martian novel, which was a whopping forty pages long (accompanied by illustrations and blocky script on a Big Chief tablet). When was your first sale? And to which magazine? Earlier this year. I received notice of a second- or third-place story in an anthology called Fantastical Visions, but I received an actual check from Mid-America Poetry Review first. What sort of writer are you? The old fashioned type, slaving away over a parchment, with a pot of ink, a quill and a candle, or the modern man, own office and PC? Anywhere, anytime. I write on receipts if that's the closest thing handy though the vast majority is composed on the computer. What’s better Buffy? Or Angel? I'm afraid to say I've seen neither. I don't watch TV. What advice would you give to any other aspiring writers? Read. Write. Rewrite. Write well. Write crap. Learn to tell the difference, learn what's salvagable and what's worth writing. All you need to know about stories: 1) Who learns? 2) Why should we care? Develop this inextricable duo and you've got a story (character and plot, respectively). How do you feel about the move from hard copy books to downloadable internet stories, is it really the end of the printed word? Internet equals easy access. It gives the reader freedom to explore what's out there. Books are palpable and are for delving into. Few of us now living will make the leap though the unborn may feel differently. What author or author’s work inspired you to become a writer? First, it was L. Frank Baum, followed promptly by Roger Zelazny, Roald Dahl, Gene Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, J D Salinger, R A Lafferty, Lucius Shepard, Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, John Steinbeck (esp. Of Mice and Men) and Donald Barthelme. All of these inspired me although the list is not all-inclusive. Have you heard of Terry Pratchett? Yes. If you had to be a character in Seinfeld who would you be? See answer 5. I've actually seen the final episode upon the urging of a friend. I'm sure the other episodes were actually funny. Have you ever been to London, UK? I haven't exited the northern and western hemispheres, but anyone who'd like to buy me a plane ticket is more than welcome. The Blair Witch project, crap or class? Need anyone ask? Absolute crap. Never before has a film had me checking my watch with such frequency. The most amazing filming technique was how the filmmakers could make a minute feel like two or three. Einstein's theory of relativity must come into play here. People whose opinions I (formerly) admired actually admitted to liking the film. The best part of the world's worst plotted and characterized film is when the whiny characters go into the basement just before the credits roll. Save your brain and see "Shallow Grave" or "Heavenly Creatures" instead. Describe your writing process Words come into my head. I put them down. Sometimes I put words down; then they come into my head. The latter becomes necessary with mental blocks. If you had the choice to work full time writing trashy romance novels, never having time for your own work, would you compromise and do it? Hell no. What does the future hold for you (hopefully)? Pass anatomy exams and write trashy romance novels--I mean, literate SF, poetry, and literary novels. Trent Walters Thanks to Trent for taking the time to answer these questions, Bob |
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