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SELLING DARK
MIRACLES CONTENTS
Key to
previous collections if applicable is -
FOR LOVE OF
DARKNESS
– INTERVIEW
Trade
Paperback from Cosmos Books USA
INTRODUCTION Just by chance, I came to write this fresh from doing another introduction, to one of my own books, concerning the French writing partnership Erckmann-Chatrian. This in turn led me to ponder writing partnerships in general and those in weird fiction in particular. How do two authors manage to write together? The mechanics of the process are fascinating. At its most mundane there's the collaboration in sequence, as when Jerome K. Jerome, Eden Phillpotts, E.F. Benson, Frank Frankfort Moore and Barry Pain took turns to write a mild thriller for The Idler magazine in 1894 ('The Mystery of Black Rock Creek', each author continuing the tale after the other). Then there was the mother and son team of Kate and Hesketh Prichard, responsible for the creation of psychic detective Flaxman Low. There have been posthumous collaborations, such as August Derleth doing his best to finish off H.P. Lovecraft fragments. Occasionally, we have seen giants in the genre get together, as did Stephen King and Peter Straub for THE TALISMAN (1977). But how's it done? Does one write while the other paces the room, firing out ideas and sentences? Does one author write the lot and the other then go through it to his satisfaction? Do they ever quarrel? As far as Erckmann-Chatrian went, the answers to the last two questions are both yes. Erckmann wrote and Chatrian revised, and they had the most awful row after 42 years of partnership. Chatrian got a fit of arrogant temper and claimed he'd written the lot. It all ended in court and the bitter end of the duo's writing partnership. It can all end in tears, you see. The writing partnership of Michael Sims and Leonard Maynard will not, I suspect, go the same way (though they have another twelve years to go to equal Erckmann-Chatrian's record). They've been happily collaborating for nearly 30 years and, even more notable, managed a near 20-year break from publishing anything. Even more singular is their return to the field by publishing their own magazine Enigmatic Tales and its sister volumes, Variations, Electronic and Novellas, and setting up their own Enigmatic Press imprint. Even Erckmann-Chatrian never managed that. Despite the rather formal L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims which they are prone to use, I know them as Mick and Len. It is fairly certain that they don't privately refer to each other as LH and MPN; I won't either. Mick Sims (b.1952) and Len Maynard (b.1953) met at school, both aged 11, and have been friends ever since. They both came from Enfield (though Mick originally from New Cross), Middlesex, but now reside in Norton (Len ) and Birchanger (Mick), both in Hertfordshire. They've both been in the same jobs for over 30 years. Mick is a senior manager with Lloyd's Bank, and Len is a lapidary/manager, cutting and polishing precious stones. Both have been married twice. Mick Sims first came to my notice in 1975, when he sent me a short story for consideration, 'Benjamin's Shadow'. I was much impressed with it, and included it in my anthology THE TASTE OF FEAR (1976). Len Maynard was never mentioned and I was not aware of the collaboration then. They went on to publish a collection of their own, SHADOWS AT MIDNIGHT (1979), issued by the late and lamented William Kimber. They also were busy writing 11 crime and horror novels, no less, not one of which ever saw the light of day. And then they took a break - all 20 years of it. The occasional story saw the light of day but no books. Two things happened during their 20-year pause: they acquired some of life's hard knocks, and the small press market blossomed. The former gave their writing a much needed harder edge, and the latter inspired them to try their hand at a small press imprint of their own. ENIGMATIC TALES, their own magazine, first appeared in June 1998, a collection of old and new stories. How they managed to do all this in their spare time is amazing. ENIGMATIC TALES ran for 10 issues, the last in September 2000 (by then it had an reached an impressive 188 pages each issue), its demise being brought about by the withdrawal of cash from the Eastern Arts Board of the Arts Council, which the enterprising Sims and Maynard had applied for (and got) in 1999. As well as the magazine, Enigmatic Press published small imprint books by Peter Crowther and James Lovegrove, Anthony Morris, Paul Finch and (naturally) L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims. Though its future looked bleak in mid-2000, Enigmatic Press had a saviour in the form of Cosmos Books in America. Len and Mick are now editing a quarterly anthology for them, DARKNESS RISING; not a resurrected ENIGMATIC TALES but certainly enough to attract those who enjoyed their first 10-issue efforts. During the past three years Mick & Len have seen SHADOWS AT MIDNIGHT reprinted in a revised and enlarged edition from Sarob Press and a second hardback collection also from Sarob ECHOES OF DARKNESS. Numerous other stories have been published in the UK small press, and a series of essays written for the professional website run by Mark Chadbourn, At The World’s End. These essays and stories are included here (and in the companion volume THE SECRET GEOGRAPHY OF NIGHTMARE). These two books effectively tell the Maynard-Sims story up to the end of 1999. For the story from the 1st January 2000 to date have a look at the authors biographical details in this book and the website www.maynard-sims.com The partnership is busier than ever – making up for those ‘missing’ years. The usual thing in introductions such as this is to look at the authors' works in detail, highlighting stories or plots. I will restrict myself, however, to pointing you in the direction of ‘At The End of the Pier’, which I regard as being among their finest stories. It has pace, style, an unusual setting and real terror at the end. We can see here how far Len and Mick have come since the days of 'Benjamin's Shadow'. It is very satisfying to see the results of their 30 years together, and I'm proud to have helped them on their way, all those years ago. I think they will avoid a fiasco of the Erckmann-Chatrian style; no tears there. Oh, and to return to my opening question: how do they do it? In their own words - 'one starts, the other one finishes; one writes, the other revises and amends'. Long may they continue to do so. Hugh Lamb. Sutton, Surrey, Easter, 2001
“Maynard & Sims write with a
voice that is both uniquely entertaining and profoundly disturbing. Their
fiction reflects classic old-school style themes told with a decidedly
modern perspective. Creepy and wonderful stuff!”
"Maynard
& Sims are that rare and wonderful hybrid that sings to the darkest
corners of the soul with their sweet voice whilst leading you like an
innocent into the wilderness ready to hand you over to the Big Bad Wolf.
Their stories never fail to deliver. They ask questions others are afraid
to ask. They explore territory others are afraid to venture into. In many
ways Maynard & Sims are reminiscent of the late greats of our genre -
Aickman, Bloch, Leiber, Machen and even Poe, all spliced liberally with
that unique dash of M&S spice..."
“For twenty-five years, Maynard and Sims have
been visiting shadows. To the delight and appreciation of readers, they
bring back souvenirs. Like gentleman peddlers selling dark miracles,
this long-time duet crafts fiction that reads like the secret geography
of nightmare. With the subtle, undeniable persuasiveness of cold air
slipping beneath the door, their supernatural stories display a subversive
ability to stealthily chip away at those flimsy walls of logic and
rationalization that the human animal uses to form illusions of
control and safety; barriers that Maynard and Sims delight in crossing.”
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Copyright © 2008 L.H. Maynard & M.P.N. Sims |
