Graham Masterton

One of the world's bestselling horror writers. Author of"The Manitou", "Rook", "Genius", "The Painted Man" and many more.

BIOGRAPHY:

My first horror novel THE MANITOU was published in 1975.  It was an immediate success in the United States and was filmed by Bill Girdler starring Tony Curtis,  Susan Strasberg,  Burgess Meredith,  Stella Stevens and Michael Ansara.  You can still buy a DVD of the movie today, even though it looks quite dated (link)!
    I was born in Edinburgh in 1946,  the son of a Scottish army officer and the grandson of the scientist Thomas Thorne Baker who invented sending photographs by radio and also fluorescent paint.  I wrote horror stories from a very early age,  when I was still at school,  and I always liked drawing,  too.  I produced my own comic which I gave to my friends.
    At the age of 17 I became a trainee newspaper reporter,  and at 21 I was appointed deputy editor of a new man's magazine Mayfair.  At 24 I was appointed executive editor of the British edition of Penthouse magazine. When I was 27 I left Penthouse to take up writing full-time.  Wiescka and I met when we were both working for Penthouse and we have been married for 35 years.
    I started by writing sex manuals,  based on my experience at Penthouse,  but then I turned to horror novels, thrillers and historical novels.  I have probably written more than 100.  You will have to check my bilbiography on my website (link).
     Wiescka and I lived in Ireland for five years but we have now returned to England to be close to our families.  I have just finished the fifth (and last) Manitou novel and I am now working on a new horror novel for my Polish publisher Albatros in Warsaw.

 

INTERVIEW:

• What does Graham Masterton’s day look like?
  Do you wait for “a creative inspiration” to start writing or is every day carefully scheduled?

My day starts with lying in bed thinking about ways in which my current novel is going to continue.  I use that time to work out plot problems and think of new ideas.  Actually it is one of the most creative times of the day.  Then I get up and have a very strong cup of Java coffee (Iit is what American railroad workers used to call "horseshoe coffee" because itis so strong that you can float a horseshoe in it).  I read the paper and usually finish the cryptic crossword.  Then I sit down at my desk around 10:30 am and start to write.  After that the day passes very quickly,  since I am in a world of my own.  At around 5:00 pm Wiescka and I might go to the local pub for a drink -- to meet friends and to relax. It can be very lonely being a writer.  Occasionally we might have lunch with a publisher in London,  which is only about half an hour away from where we live.  In the evening Wiescka will talk to our three sons on the telephone,  play some music perhaps and watch some stupid TV. But I am always thinking about new ideas, all the time. 

• Do you know all the covers of foreign editions of your books?
  

I have a clause in my publishing contracts which require all publishers to send me all editions of my books wherever there are published in the world. Unfortunately this does not always happen. I think I have seen all of the covers of my books that have come out in Poland, but I know that there are some books that were published in Greece (with wonderful covers, incidentally) which I have never seen.

• Do you think about the future cover design while working on a new book?
  

I was trained as an artist so I do imagine what a cover should look like, and I have a very good relationship with my American publishers Leisure Books who always ask me if I have any suggestions for covers. But I do not make the final decision on the covers myself. Remember that there are many different elements involved in selling books, and the marketing people in the publishing company may have very specific views about whether a particular cover will sell well or not. You have to be very careful with horror books not to make them look too gory or too cheap.

• Have you ever felt that the cover for your book was totally not what you had in mind? Do you have your favorite artists / illustrators, favorite book covers (of your books)?
  

Several of my books have been published with covers which I did not particularly like, but that is the publishers' prerogative. I do tell them, of course, if I really hate it! I do not know many book illustrators but my son Dan is an illustrator and animator and he knows many of them very well. In the past I have had correspondence with Will Elder (link) the American cartoonist who drew Little Annie Fanny for Playboy and he sent me a great original painting of Annie. I also knew the late Alfred Bestall (link) who was a stunningly brilliant artist and for years drew the children's strip comic Rupert the Bear for the British newspapers. One of the cartoonists I admired the most was the Belgian cartoonist and illustrator Guy Pellaert (link).., who died only recently.

• In 2003 there was "Visions of Hell" (link) comic-album published in Poland. What feelings did you have while reading this publication? What do you think about the album?
  

I thought it was great -- full of highly original art with wildly differing styles. I only wish that somebody would publish another one! I particularly liked the "Anais" strip which had very superior drawing.

• Was that the first time when your stories were transformed into comic-album?
  

The first stories that were published as comic strips were brought out by Glenn Danzig the rock musician in his Verotik (link) series of erotic comics. I think he did six or seven of them. They were highly explicit but the art was brilliant.

• As far as I know, your son used to be interested in comic-strips. Is it still his interest?
  

Dan is more into computer animation these days but I am hoping that we can work on a children's book together "Chris Cross in Snappyland".

• Do you read comic books? If yes, do you have any favorites?

I do not read them very often these days, but I used to love Mandrake the Magician (link).

• There was a reference to art in quite a few of your books ("Painted Man”,"Family Portrait”...). Shall we expect any new ones?

Yes...I always like writing about the mysterious power of painting and drawing, and to discuss the possibility of actually entering a painting (such as a Canaletto, maybe) and walking about inside it!

• Thank you very much for the interview. We are waiting impatiently for your new books!

 

/ interview: Jakub Mazerant for IllustrateYourself.com /