One of the reasons I still blog is for occasions like this. A terrific book, and a terrific cause.
Joe Konrath: Scar Tissue
contains some stellar short stories--stuff that really sticks with the
reader months later. How did it
come about?
Marcus Sakey: It came about because I find writing short
stories brutal. They need to be so damn perfect.
With a novel, there’s a certain freedom to play. You can try things: flirt with a style, dance
with a quirk, toy with a notion. Now,
understand, I’m tenured faculty in the Kill Your Darlings School of Writing, so
I believe that ultimately an experiment has to succeed to survive, and that
failed attempts should be shot in the head and dumped in the garbage. It’s just that the breadth of a novel gives
you room to maneuver.
Short stories, on the other hand, are themselves an
experiment. By definition they are
almost certain to leave a reader wanting.
They’re one night stands. And so
they have to be stellar, or all you’ll be left with is annoyance and regret and
in the worst cases, blue balls.
I’ve written dozens of short stories. There are exactly seven that I’m satisfied
with.
And that’s ScarTissue.
Joe: You’re doing something unusual with this
release. What is the Team Julian
Foundation?
Marcus: In 2010, two of the best people I know got
unimaginable news: their four-year-old son had an incurable brain tumor.
Julian Boivin was a superhero in training. He was sweet and bright and joyful and
incredibly tough. He and his parents
fought an epic battle: surgery, radiation, chemo, things no child should have
to experience. But in the end, cancer
stole this beautiful boy.
Founded in his honor, the Team Julian Foundation is trying
to give other kids a fighting chance. To help, I’m donating 50% of the proceeds
from every copy of Scar Tissue sold to pediatric cancer research.
Joe: But that’s not all…
Marcus: No.
For the next two weeks, I’m going to donate 100% of the profit. Every cent from every sale. The reason is simple: your blog.
I’ve been reading A
Newbie’s Guide for six years. I know
how many readers you have, and how influential they are. If we all pitch in, we’ll not only raise a
lot of desperately needed funds, but hopefully build momentum that will
encourage others to help.
So please, if you’re
reading this, consider buying the anthology.
It’s $3. It’s not even a
latte. But every bit of the profit will go
to helping kids like Julian.
Joe: And besides
doing good, you get the book. I’ve read
it, and it gets my highest recommendation.
And others agree.
Marcus: First off, thanks. I’d say the check was in the mail, but I know
you prefer payment in beer. Which I
admire.
The stories have been well-received, with a lot of critical
praise and some Hollywood interest. The
most successful, “The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away,” was nominated for
the Macavity and the Lovey, as well as being shortlisted as the best short
story of 2009 by the International Thriller Writers.
But I think one of the most memorable honors I’ve received was
for my shortest story ever, the 25-word tale “The Time Before the Last.” The anthology that published it was used as
source material for an artists’ competition, with individual painters choosing
the story that moved them most.
Several people selected my story, and it was just the
coolest thing to see artists take inspiration from a story I wrote and then go
on to create something completely different.
I tried to buy one the pieces, but they’d sold the opening
night. Which is pretty cool too.
Joe: What's your
writing background?
Marcus: Lying to
people.
For me specifically, it was advertising. There’s no better way to prepare for writing
about criminals and thieves than a job in advertising.
I enjoyed it for awhile, but the business eats its young, and
one day I realized I was at best an appetizer.
So I decided to quit, and the next morning, I went to see my boss. Before I could get a word in edgewise, he
fired me. With severance.
Talk about a karmic kick in the pants.
Anyway, I threw myself into writing short stories—the fact
that they need to be perfect is the exact reason you should start with them;
you’ll miss more than you hit, but you’ll learn from the swing, and you can swing
a lot—while taking classes towards an MFA.
My plan being that if I failed as a writer, I could become a teacher.
Then this hot-shit newcomer spoke to my class. He was all fire and energy and system-breaking,
and he laid some serious business on us: how the industry worked, the truth
about money, the need for focus, the idea that you can either talk about
wanting to be a writer or you can write.
After class, I asked if I could buy him a beer.
Our bar tab, five hours later, was $96. Joe let me pay. Bastard.
It was worth it. I
dropped out of my program and wrote my first novel. The
Blade Itself sold at auction, won some awards, and was bought for film by
Ben Affleck.
Joe: I hope you wrote that off on your taxes. :)
Besides buying
Scar Tissue, how can people contribute to the Team Julian Foundation?
There are a hundred ways.
For a checkbook liberal like me, the easiest is just that: write a
check. Team Julian is completely
volunteer managed—Julian’s parents Brad and Nettie, along with their amazing
friends, handle everything—so your money goes pretty much directly to pediatric
cancer research.
But there are lots of other things you can do to help as
well. Check out TeamJulianFoundation.com
for more details.
Joe: I already have the ebook (hell, I wrote the foreword for it) so I just donated directly to Team Julian. If you have Scar Tissue, I invite you to do the same. If you don't have Scar Tissue, get it for $2.99 and as previously stated, Marcus will donate all profits to the foundation for two weeks, and after that half the profits, forever. Marcus's short fiction is every bit as good as his novels, which is to say it's spectacular.
Spread the word.
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