[AC] Interview with author / blogger / thinker Mike Duran

http://authorculture.blogspot.com/2011/06/interview-author-blogger-mike-duran.html

Interview: Author / Blogger Mike
Duran<http://authorculture.blogspot.com/2011/06/interview-author-blogger-mike-duran.html>
<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cue3tpmVfyM/Tf5EHDI_5-I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/njc2sSVJRvc/s1600/mike-9.jpg>Hey,
everyone. Johne, here. Mike Duran is fast becoming one of the leading voices
in what Frank Creed refers to as the Lost Genre, that gap between
speculative fiction fans and belief / religion. Mike's pedigree is as
colorful as he is. Mike writes a thought-provoking and controversial blog
called deCOMPOSE <http://mikeduran.com/>, where he asks seemingly innocent
questions that provoke spirited debate from all corners. He's a human
touchstone who seems incapable of straying far from where all the lightning
is striking. Mike's been running a series of articles about editors of indie
presses, and subjected me to a long interview in
two<http://mikeduran.com/?p=13102>
parts <http://mikeduran.com/?p=13172> on his blog. In retaliation, I asked
him to answer some questions for our readers here at AuthorCulture, and, in
a fit of moxy, he rose to the challenge. Without further ado, I present Mike
Duran.

AuthorCulture (AC): Hi, Mike. We meet again. Thanks for talking to our
readers! Mike, what are literary missionaries, and are you one?

MIKE: The first thing I envision when you use the term “missionary” is a guy
boiling in a pot of stew surrounded by salivating natives. If that’s what
you mean Johne then, definitely, I am one. Seriously, I have never
considered myself a “literary missionary,” although I know what you’re
getting at. I’m not sure if that term has been officially coined, but I use
it to describe “crossover” Christian writers, those believers who do not
write exclusively for the Christian market. They are missionaries in the
sense that they use their talent to get them into new, often “hostile”
terrain. While I hope that my books will get into the hands of seekers and
non-believers, I don’t consider myself exclusively aimed there.

AC: Who are your inspirations? Who made you want to read, and to write?

MIKE: Reading was a means of survival for me. I was the outcast, the awkward
loser kid who couldn’t seem to be at ease among the crowd. Raised in a
dysfunctional home, I often withdrew into an artistic cocoon. Drawing,
painting, reading, and writing—this is where I found solace. It’s here that
I immersed myself in the fantastical: Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Arthur
C. Clarke, Marvel Comics, and Weird Tales. In a way, I still derive
inspiration from writers of speculative fiction. Dean Koontz, Tosca Lee,
Neal Gaiman, and Robert McCammon are some of my recent faves.

AC: How did you find your way into your writer's wilderness? (By that, I
mean, when did you decide to seriously start writing, and how long was it
before you realized you were in over your head?)

MIKE: It’s been such a long process. I hear a lot of authors say they knew
they wanted to be a writer from childhood. Well, I’m not one of those
people. I had no idea what I wanted to be, and in a way, my writing career
is still a bit of a journey into the unknown. Perhaps the biggest “nudge”
came when I was once on staff at a church that was assembling some
discipleship curricula. I assumed the lead over the project, wrote,
researched, and designed the material. And I had a blast! It really
rekindled some of my creative spark. From there, I purchased some books on
the craft of writing, began some short stories, and became familiar with the
publishing industry. It was a very slow process of personal discovery, risk,
and hard work. Even now, as I’m looking forward to the publication of my
second novel, I still feel like I’m on the front end of a huge learning
curve.

Being under contract for that second book was probably when everything hit
the fan. Creativity is not something that can be rushed and genuine
inspiration is usually not scripted. Brilliance has a timetable all its own.
Nevertheless, the contracted writer doesn’t have the luxury to sit around
and wait for lightning to strike. All that to say, I knew I was in over my
head as the deadline for my second novel barreled down on me. Fear,
inadequacy, failure, incompetence—all of these emotions battered me. I was
absolutely convinced I would be a one-hit wonder.

AC:Once there, how did you find your way out of your writer's wilderness
again?

MIKE: I wouldn’t say I am out of my writer’s wilderness, but that I have
kept hacking, found a path, and am starting to see daylight through the
tangle of trees. In a way, it’s been a simple issue of perseverance. Even
when I didn’t feel inspired, I wrote. Even when my schedule seemed
impassable, I made time for writing. Even when the demon of perfectionism
said the book would stink, I spit in his eye.

One thing I constantly reminded myself was that I had done this before, I
had written a novel. (Note: This is one of the reasons why aspiring authors
need to FINISH their book—it will be a spike in the mountain that they can
always tether to.) I drew inspiration from the fact that I’d done it once
and could do it again. Another help was my writers group. Rachel Marks,
Becky Miller, and Merrie Destefano, were a huge encouragement through the
emotional morass. Which is why I’m convinced writers need to have other
writers in their lives. And finally, I submitted to the realization that
it’s okay to suck. Even if my second novel is universally panned and I am
banished from the writing community forever, I have been blessed. My wife,
my kids, my own faith journey—I am a lucky man. This admission really helped
me to fight through the malaise and keep
writing.<http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OAXD_gzFsio/Tf5EXgI-CRI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/ov1Ct6DaV2w/s1600/The-Resurrection-2.png>AC:
You recently posted called Why Christians Can’t Agree About Christian
Fiction <http://mikeduran.com/?p=12734> and received a huge
response<http://mikeduran.com/?p=12734#comments>,
153 comments as of this post. Can you give us a thumbnail of your thoughts
and some of the most compelling rebuttals?

MIKE: There are many compelling rebuttals. Despite what some might think, I
am not resolved as to the state of Christian fiction. Several years ago, Ted
Dekker posted about what he considered overly-strict guidelines from a
publisher of Christian romance. I recall watching with interest as this huge
flame war began, which ended rather benignly with the differing parties
cordially agreeing to call a truce. And apparently conceding to refrain from
discussing the issue publicly ever again. I wondered to myself if Christians
would ever be able to openly air their disagreements about the Christian
fiction industry ever again, as if this is our own sacred cow.

In the post you mentioned, I proffered an opinion about why there is so much
disagreement among Christians about Christian art. As I see it, there are
two paradigms that believers view the arts through. One sees art as a means
to engage the world, the other sees art as a means to disengage from the
world. One believes in separatism, the other believes immersion. These
differing views have created a polarity among Christian authors and readers.
Of course, some will object to me asserting there are different camps and
that by doing so, I am creating dissension. This is absolutely NOT my
intention. In fact, I think we should be more concerned by our hesitancy to
discuss the issue, than the potential difficulty we face in bringing up the
subject.

AC: As a fellow speculative fiction fan, you know as well as any how
marginal speculative fiction has been for those who have a Christian
worldview. Have you observed any thawing in the markets for spec fic fans?

MIKE: Thawing? Yeah. But do you realize how long it takes an iceberg to
thaw? I’m probably more pessimistic than some regarding Christian spec-fic.
Some of my writer friends believe I actually may be hurting our cause by not
acknowledging the real advances the industry has made. They might be right.
Nevertheless, to answer your question, I doubt whether spec-fic will ever
thrive in the current Christian market.

Perhaps it’s more of a generational thing. The first generation of Christian
fiction was Little House on the Prairie type stuff and Romance. I have
nothing against either. It is also not insignificant that the largest
organization of Christian writers (the ACFW, American Christian Fiction
Writers) was founded in 2000 as the American Christian Romance Writers
(ACRW). Their name was changed in 2004 to better reflect their members’
scope of writing. Either way, it’s been less than ten years since the main
body of Christian fiction writers has actively included genres other than
romance. And in all honesty, speculative fiction is probably way down their
list. So it’s a lot like turning the Titanic. It requires a slow, wide arc.
All that to say, maybe there is a thaw. But if it doesn’t hurry up, that
iceberg will definitely do some damage.

AC: How did the deal with Strang Communications /
Realms<http://www.strangbookgroup.com/index.php/books-by-imprint/realms-books>come
about? (I
can't help grinning here as they publish "supernatural thrillers and prairie
romances". That strikes me like the sort of joke God would enjoy.)

MIKE: Once again, quite a long story. My first agent had shopped my book
through the Christian market with moderate interest. Of those who liked it
but passed, some said it was too edgy and weird. We decided to begin looking
to the general market and, almost immediately, a large New York house took
interest. As you can imagine, we were elated. It was the beginning of our
current recession and the process just seemed to drag on. The acquisitions
editor loved the story, but couldn’t seem to get her team on board. After
about 3-4 months, they finally passed on the project. We sunk. Shortly
thereafter, my agent and I cordially agreed to part ways. It was a very
difficult time.

After a brief bout of depression, I vowed to continue pursuing my writing
career. I started some other writing projects and began gathering agent
recommendations again. Meanwhile, I’d had an eye on Realms. They published
the type of stuff I wrote, my agent had never pitched to them, and I knew
they accepted un-agented manuscripts. Mike Dellosso was (and remains) their
premier spec author, so I emailed him. He was extremely gracious and put me
in touch with Debbie Marrie, Strang’s fiction acquisition editor. So I
submitted the story, fully prepared to receive another rejection, and
continued shopping for agents. Within about four months, I had signed a
two-book contract and was being represented by Rachelle Gardner, one of the
best agents in the business. In summation, the process has been long,
winding, taxing, exhilarating, and utterly confounding.

AC: If you could go back and give your younger self any one piece of writing
advice, what would you tell yourself to give yourself the best
bang-for-the-buck advice to kick-start your writing career? What advice
would you give a young black sheep Christian writer wannabe with a healthy
interest in genre literature?

MIKE: Probably, “Avoid anyone who says they can give you one piece of
definitive writing advice.” Seriously, the writer’s life is so solitary and
so very personal; our words are displayed for others, our characters are
trotted across numerous literary runways and scrutinized, our plots are
splayed on digital gurneys and dissected before gawking wannabes. We are
public figures with tender psyches and complex emotional make-ups. Writing
is such a unique career. So my advice to aspiring authors would be: Find
your own center. You will be assailed, critiqued, hailed, and then panned.
Some will love your writing. Some will lie to you, and say they love it.
Others will flat-out tell you it reeks. It’s quite a balance of learning
when to (1) Listen to critics and (2) Ignore the critics. That’s why I say,
Find your own center. Find peace and consolation in something other than
critics, royalty statements, and five-star Amazon reviews. You must find
validation apart from publication. You must find your own inner bearing,
your own fount of inspiration, and your own reason to keep on writing. You
must find a creative center that no one else can touch.

Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |*
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