Ask the Author: Anthony Paolucci
Answered Questions (6)
Anthony Paolucci
When I first started writing stories, I lived by the motto "the extreme always makes an impression." It's corny, and it's something I came up with over 20 years ago, but it was my one true writing rule at the time. Stories that end tragically or not how you would like - those are the ones that you remember. The emotional impact can be very real, even with a fictional character. Would anyone remember Titanic the same way if Jack didn't die, and him and Rose lived happily ever after? That's not how real life works. Real life is the little boy who dies of cancer. The house that burns down and displaces an entire family, destroying everything they own. Yes, happy endings are wonderful, but they simply don't have the same impact as darker ones. That being said, I can't just torture and kill characters for the sake of angering readers - a character's pain and/or death needs to have significance, and therein lies the challenge. Can you imagine how boring and predictable Shakespeare's plays would be if everyone got what they wanted in the end? But because the plot went in the direction it did, you felt something more, and that emotional reaction made the characters real, tangible - you felt genuine loss. It humanized the story, and gave the reader something to relate to - resulting in a profound and intimate connection between the author and the reader. I just don't think anyone could say the same if Romeo and Juliet got married, had kids, and died old and peacefully. There is beauty in tragedy, a sad beauty in loss, because it reminds of how precious life really is - in both the real world and the fictional ones. It forces you to reflect on past choices, and consider the direction in which your life is headed. Grief can inspire as well as destroy. But again, it has to be written skillfully, crafted into something substantial, or else you're just a shock-writer. This is my goal in most cases. Not to take away from the happy ending, either. They have their place. But in Gabriel's case, it needed to end the way it did. That was always my intention from the very beginning.
Anthony Paolucci
This one is a challenge to answer. Most writers inject a piece of themselves into every character they create. In my case, I feel as if I've injected a tiny piece of my soul in each and every one. If my books were horcruxes, you could destroy me forever by erasing these stories from the world. "Shy Boy" is based on me and my crippling shyness in school - I really used to own a Jackson chameleon and would fantasize about turning invisible. Sally from the Creatureon trilogy is me as a kid in elementary school, feeling looked-down on by the other people in my classes and wishing I was every bit as good as them, in all the ways I wanted to be. Mallory from "Mallory's Gallery" is me in my black garb every day having to answer for my "dark" interests, humor and appearance. "Jack of the Crawlies" is me retreating to the woods behind my mother's house as a boy and living out my adventure fantasies. But the character who most resembles me is Gabriel Thorn. The story itself came about by accident - it was never meant to be a book. I had wanted to create a character who represented all my favorite fantasy elements, those being Elves, vampires, and werewolves. Then I wanted to construct a world in which he lived as some type of conflicted, troubled anti-hero. What became the story was meant to be a series of made-up journal entries. When things got too real, I would sit down at my word processor and just write about Gabriel's day, his thoughts. It was a mental and creative retreat. He was my "fantasy Anthony," who I would be in my perfect fictional universe. But I got carried away with the idea of making a comic book series, and so a plot accidentally formed. At the back of the novel is a short story, which is made up of the three "journal entries" I had written before turning the concept into a novel. So the long answer to your question is Gabriel Thorn.
Anthony Paolucci
Every book I read, movie I see, or personal experience has the potential to inspire an entire story idea. In the very beginning, it was my young daughter, and my first true foray into writing was children's books, because she did or said something to inspire an idea. A piece of a conversation, a line from a song, it doesn't matter. Inspiration comes from the most unlikely of places sometimes. You have to develop the sense to know that you've just stumbled onto something magical that deserves to be written about. You have to know when and how to recognize those things that makes your subconscious say, "There's a story here somewhere...and I'm gonna find it."
Anthony Paolucci
Read, read, read, and then read some more. You'll never find your own literary voice unless you expose yourself to as many writers as possible, as many different styles and types of books. Experience as much as you can, in every capacity. Never be afraid of your feelings, because they are your most reliable writing tool.
Anthony Paolucci
Being able to put all your deepest fears and joys into words and stories, and then unleash them upon the universe. It's like releasing a profound and subliminal scream into the world, one that declares your very existence and let's every human being on the planet know that you're here, you're alive, and that you matter. It's also a way for introverts like me to communicate with the rest of the world, say the things I can't say out loud. Being a father, it's also a legacy, something my daughter will always have to remind her of me, and what kind of person I was.
Anthony Paolucci
I never get writer's block. My issue is that the ideas never stop coming, and I have to turn off my imagination. They need to invent a new phrase: Writer's Flood? I don't know. But it's why I've written almost 30 books in five years. I remained open to any and all ideas. Now, however, I need to be more selective, so I can keep up with the production of each book. Otherwise, I end up with five or more works in progress--like now--because I'm waiting on illustrations.
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