I had the pleasure of interviewing author Maurice Broaddus about his novel The Devil’s Marionette. From modern tragedy to medieval darkness, Broaddus is full of ways to scare you.
LT: Tell us about your latest novel, The Devil’s Marionette.
MB: Devil’s Marionette is about the cast and crew of the show, Chocolate City, a sketch comedy much like In Living Color (think an all-black Saturday Night Live type show), who become under siege by ghosts of their past. Each crew member has to wrestle with their own demons even as a terror wreaks havoc on their lives. It’s about how and what an artist is willing to compromise in order to have success.
LT: You also have an upcoming novel King Maker, (The Knights of Breton Court). What’s it about?
MB: The Knights of Breton Court marks my debut novel series. Basically, it’s a re-telling the legend of King Arthur is being replayed on the inner city streets of Indianapolis, among homeless teenagers, gang members, and drug dealers. I look at it as The Wire meets Excalibur. In Kingmaker, our main hero, King James White, slowly comes to grip that he is the inheritor of the Pendragon spirit and is caught between two warring gangs as he seeks to unite his neighborhood.
LT: Did you do research for the time period the story is set in?
MB: Well, the story sprang out of some work I was doing with a homeless teen ministry. So a lot of my research simply involved talking to the kids and being involved in their lives. When I got the idea to re-tell the Arthurian cycle, I quickly realized that I didn’t know nearly as much about it as I thought. So I’ve buried myself in the tales and drawn from the huge cast of characters present in the mythos.
LT: How are fantasy and horror similar or different?
MB: They are linked under the umbrella of speculative fiction. Fantasy (high, low, dark, whatever) always involves otherworldly elements. Horror can be rather hard to define, partly because it’s a genre that often finds itself running from its own label. Some say they write “dark fiction” or “supernatural suspense” or “bizarro fiction”. But at its core, horror is about fear, an attempt to get a cathartic release from dealing with what scares or unnerves us. In short, horror is more an emotive element than a genre. Any story that’s about terrifying the reader falls under horror. Throw in some otherworldly elements, it can fall under fantasy.
LT: Are there other projects on the horizon?
MB: I’m a busy little bee these days. Kingmaker is book one of the Knights of Breton Court series, but it will be followed by King’s Justice and King’s War. I am also co-editing an anthology entitled Dark Faith (Apex Books). That will be debuting at my convention, Mo*Con, next year (April 30th – May 2nd).
LT: Would you like to do a collaboration again?
MB: I’d love it. My previous novella, Orgy of Souls (Apex Books), was written with Wrath James White (yes, my character King’s name is a nod to my collaboration buddy). That was so fun to write, we’re toying with another project that we’ll begin working on next year. It’ll be epic. And apocalyptic. We’ll easily rack up a significantly higher body count than in Orgy of Souls.
LT: What happens when you get a new story idea?
MB: Depends on the idea and my deadline schedule. Tell you the truth, I carry a notepad with me everywhere I go, so whenever I get an idea, I immediately jot it down. I have a file folder of ideas, bits of dialogue, random descriptions which I come back to regularly. If the idea sticks with me, rattling around in the back of my head gestating, it’ll come out when it’s ready.
LT: What authors do you like to read?
MB: Neil Gaiman is the only writer who can make me go all fanboy. I’ve enjoyed his work every since his run on the Sandman comic book and his work only seems to be getting better. The other writer’s I’ve been digging on lately are Michael Chabon, Toni Morrison, and Amy Hempel.
LT: If given the opportunity to write in a totally new form or genre, what would you chose?
MB: Well, I’ve written a few mainstream stories, historical, fantasy, science fiction, westerns, and horror. So I tend to write whatever moves me at the time. “Pimp My Airship” was my first steampunk story and I’d like to go back and do a novel length version of that story in that world. Although, I’d like to try my hand at experimental fiction.
LT: What’s the best thing about writing?
MB: Creating new worlds and new characters.
LT: And the worst?
MB: Not getting paid nearly enough.
LT: Do your stories ever scare you?
MB: Scare me? No. Disturb me? Yes. Devil’s Marionette disturbed me a lot, taking me to dark places and churning up a lot of “soul shadows.” Plus, a lot of my fiction functions as therapy, so I’m basically sharing my personal demons with my readers.
LT: If you had a chance to re-write any popular movie or book, what would it be?
MB: Oh man, where to begin. To go way back, I’d love to have the chance to re-launch the Judge Dredd movie franchise. How’s that for going old school on you?
LT: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?
MB: You can always learn more about me or what’s going on with my writing at www.MauriceBroaddus.com. For that matter, you can follow me on
Twitter (http://twitter.com/MauriceBroaddus,
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/mauricebroaddus),
or MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/mauricebroaddus).
But when in doubt, read my blog: http://www.mauricebroaddus.com/blog.htm.
I’m a professional writer, which means I’m exceptionally needy. Read me! Love me! I NEED YOUR VALIDATION!!!
©2009 Lori Titus
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November 1st, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Great interview Lori, thoroughly enjoyed and I’ll be checking out his book.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:50 am
This was an interesting interview. Thanks! I’d love to know why Judge Dredd is the pick for a re-launch.