"Maynard and
Sims capture the delicious thrill of
fireside story
telling, investing dark wonder into decidedly contemporary conflicts, people and settings.
Like the teasing, tormenting power of shadows, their malignant shades and mythical dangers
are neither wholly real nor imaginary. Indeed it is to their credit and power that
they hover between both extremes, constantly threatening us with their presence but
never wholly revealing them until characters are doomed."
Quietly Horrifying : An Interview with L.H.Maynard & M.P.N.Sims
Interviewed by Tony Mileman Introduction Described as [writing) ‘stories positioned squarely along the Aickman-James axis’ by Paul Di Filipo (Asimov’s Science Fiction), ‘eerie yet charming’ by the British Fantasy Society and ‘knowing what makes a horror story tick’ (Shivers), British authors Len H Maynard (b. 1953) and Mick P. N. Sims (b.1952) have been writing ‘classic old-school style themes told with a decidedly modern perspective’ (Brian Keene, USA) since 1972. The authors first saw publication with their debut story, ‘Curtain Call’, which appeared in the ‘London Mystery Magazine’ (1974). Their second story ‘Benjamin’s Shadow’ featured in Hugh Lamb’s ‘Taste of Fear’ anthology (WH Allen, 1976), and a collection of ten ghost stories followed in ‘Shadows at Midnight’ (Kimber, 1979). From 1974 to 1984 the authors concentrated on writing stories in the style of the ‘early traditional ghost story’. A ‘barren period’, from ‘about 1984’ to 1994, followed in which the authors wrote ‘numerous stones~ and ‘destroyed about eleven novels~ ‘without sending much off for possible publication’~ From 1994 onwards, Maynard and Sims focused on submitting once more, had numerous stories published, had six collections published, three novellas, established ‘Enigmatic Press’ (1998-2000) and edited seven volumes and two annual volumes of the anthology, ‘Darkness Rising’. In 2005, their short story, ‘Flour White and Spindle Thin’~ appeared in ‘The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror’ volume 16 (edited by Stephen Jones, 2005). Their debut mass-market novel, ‘Shelter’, appeared from Leisure Books (Dorchester Publishing) USA in July 2006, with a second novel, ‘Demon Eyes’, currently being read. The authors live in Hertfordshire ‘about 25 miles apart’. 1) Writing background How did your friendship and writing partnership develop? MS: We met at secondary school in Enfield in 1963/64 but didn’t really become friends until we left school. We began talking in a pub about an unsuccessful love affair with a girl of our acquaintance and carried on until the small hours. The writing began shortly afterwards when Len produced a very short story, which I then tried to beat, and a friendly rivalry began. That culminated in our pooling our resources’ and Maynard & Sims partnership was born. The friendship has always been more important than the writing. Tell us about your development as writers and the journey that led to the debut story ‘Curtain Call’ appearing in ‘The London Mystery Magazine’. What was this story about? How did your writing style, and learning process, evolve to that first publication? LM: The very early stuff was awful. Ideas without structure or indeed any quality at all. We read anything we could lay our hands on that was labeled ‘horror’ and were trying various types of styles to see what we liked. We were hostage to a myriad of styles and didn’t really know what we wanted to write. It wasn’t until we found the traditional ghost stories that we felt at home at that time. Hence Curtain Call is a ghost story as are the stories in Shadows At Midnight. Curtain Call is set in the English theatre, which is a setting we often use (Our new novella, Double Act is for example.) We had really left that style behind by the time Shadows was reprinted in 1999, and as Echoes Of Darkness and Incantations came out we had moved to a modern version of the ghost story, although many were supernatural without any trace of a ghost. The two retrospective collections Selling Dark Miracles and The Secret Geography Of Nightmare collected all the stories that had been published in the small press in the nineties. Many of which are horror rather than ghost. Falling Into Heaven is more diverse, with all the stories being modern, and the ghost and horror element being very diverse. Our novellas are similar in content to the shorter work. What drew you both to horror fiction? What books and stories did you enjoy in your childhood and teens? MS: Movies and comics as well as the Pan series of horror books. Len’s first book was one of the Pan series, and mine was an Alfred Hitchcock ‘edited’ anthology. There were so many horror books being published as we were taking an interest in reading and writing that we were drawn to them. Movies were coming out from Spain, Italy as well as US and UK, the videos were being banned, and it was all exciting. School turned Len away from reading but I enjoyed Shakespeare and all the rest. Please tell us about the anthology, ‘Shadows at Midnight’ (1979). LM: Ten ghost stories mainly told from the atmosphere of chess playing, port drinking, and bachelor lifestyle men. That wasn’t us at all but was our take on the traditional ghost story setting. Some critics said we were trying to imitate M R James but we weren’t, as we don’t wholly enjoy his stories. We were trying to emulate the writers who tried to imitate James. Some of the stories are short but most are about 5000 words, with a longer novella Border End finishing it off. The reprinted Sarob version included two additional stories, a revised Curtain Call and a new story. All the original ten stories were rewritten, some quite dramatically. You describe the period 1974-1984 as one in which you were both writing ghost stories, and 1984-1994 as a ‘barren period’ in which ‘about eleven novels were destroyed~ yet you were not submitting. Could you tell us about this time in more detail, particularly the unpublished novels (what happened to them?), what you were writing and submitting, and how you kick-started your writing career in the 1990s to your comeback in the 2000s. MS: Laziness. No, more than that but generally a lack of focus. In 1974 we were young men without much life experience and so our stories took their voice from what we were reading as much as from anywhere because our lives were still being mapped out. Traditional ghost stories were an inspiration to us, from foggy walks home from the pub by the river, to visits to old churches. We sent Kimber a follow up collection to Shadows but there was a lot of experimental stuff in there and they quite naturally wanted more ghosts. We could have had more Kimber books but made the (wrong) decision to be different. We really had many things happen to us from 1984 onwards, with divorces, births, deaths, work pressures, and as we were also struggling to find a new path to follow having made as much of the traditional ghosts as we could, we tried numerous writing projects. There was a mainstream story collection that Penguin liked but we didn’t follow up their initial enthusiasm. There were numerous stories written at lengths of about 9000 words that didn’t find a home. Horror was dying at this time and we knew of no small press. The novels included adaptations of some stories from Shadows, a mixed genre crime-horror novel, a psychic phenomena book, a US based police procedural, and two crime thrillers set in UK. Five of the drafts survive and will be written. In 1994 we discovered the UK small press. It was a time when our lives had settled a little, and we needed a new challenge. We re-wrote Shadows, re-wrote all those long stories we hadn’t sent off, stripping them down to small press size of 3000 words or so, and when they were all done we started on the new stuff that became Echoes, and later Incantations. LM: At this time we decided to start Enigmatic Tales, which spawned Novellas, Variations and Electronic, and suddenly had no time at all for anything else. When that ended we found ourselves editing Darkness Rising, though that was less time consuming. In 2004 the fourth stage of our career began when we realized, and were advised, that we were spreading ourselves too thinly. Stories, novellas, editing, reviews, we were everywhere and doing everything. We had to concentrate and focus. We decided it should be on novels and that was the right decision. Shelter being accepted has proved that and with Demoneyes hopefully accepted, the third novel on the way, two more planned out as well as three mystery-suspense novels we are busy but on one thing. 2) Literary Influences Which authors have been the most influential on your writing, or whose work you most admire, and why? MS: I would say Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct novels. Short stories by H R Wakefield, and the so-called M R James followers such as Munby, Caldecott and RoIt. Currently I’m reading and enjoying Peter Robinson and Robert Goddard. LM: I used to read a lot of post-apocalyptic stuff; Wyndham, John Christopher, and I love The Furies by Keith Roberts. These days I read very little fiction, as it tends to detract from my writing. But the writers I admire are Graham Masterton, who nearly always delivers and has great range, and Jack Higgins whose tempo and feel for a story really can’t be bettered, but I mainly read a lot of non-fiction. What themes and subject matters are you interested in exploring in your horror fiction? MS: Definitely the innocent person, or people, being attacked by evil, in whatever guise, through no fault of their own. Sometimes there is a fault, such as a character flaw, that lets the evil have access, but generally it is an innocent act that sets loose the horrors. Some of our stories focus on the flawed character as the embodiment of evil, and often relationships feature as the catalyst. 3) On Writing How do you go about collaborating on a short story? How do you work together, especially in the writing of the debut novel? LM: When we started one would start a story and the other finish it. Or one would complete a story and the other re-write. Then as our styles became more aligned through the years one would write it completely and the other merely edit. With the novels one of us will write the first-drafts, then it’s passed across for the other to edit and revise. Then it’s passed back for another draft in order to maintain the ‘one voice’, and then finally we read through each page sitting together to give as close an edit as we can manage. At all times we brainstorm ideas together. What do you think makes a good short story? How do you evaluate your own stories? MS: We published stories we liked, simple as that. It’s indefinable why one story is enjoyed and another not, as often it has nothing to do with the quality of the writing. With our own work we’ve enjoyed criticism from many people over the years, from reviewers, editors and publishers, as well as other writers. We take it on board but ultimately you either believe in your own ability or you don’t. We’ve reached the stage where we think we write well, though we are improving all the time (hopefully!). How have your stories changed over the years thematically and stylistically? LM: Initially the stories were traditional ghost stories but we haven’t written one of those for more than fifteen years. Themes matured as the years progressed, with many of life’s trials that we’ve experienced finding their way into the stories — marriage problems, children, work, the general debris of life. We still write with character as the main driver, allowing the supernatural element to insinuate itself through the plot and letting the structure build the suspense and mystery. A number of readers of this interview might be interested in ‘writers tips’. For their benefit, I wonder if you could provide some writing advice; for example, how do you go about writing a novel or a short story? LM: How we do it may not help, as there are two of us so our way of working may be unique. Decide if you really want to write and it is not just a pleasant ambition because you like reading. Decide what you want to write. Short stories are not the route to novels. They’re two very different animals, with different rules and disciplines. MS: Decide what genre you want to write in. Find an idea, a theme, a story, the hub of what it is you want to say. Then you can explore how you want to tell the story, with which characters, what setting. Some writers have an ending first and work backwards when planning — crime stories fit this way nicely. But whatever you do be passionate about it because it takes a long time to write a novel and you need to be ready to write every day if you can, certainly as much as possible each week, and keep going week after week, with no guarantee that anyone will care about it when it’s done. 4) On Horror What makes a really good horror/ghost story? MS: Suspension of disbelief, believable characters, atmosphere, tight plotting structure, and a realistic ending. Can you name your top 5 horror stories? LM/MS: No. Read so many. From early reading it would be the stories that influenced us thirty odd years ago. Ringing The Changes, I7th Hole At Duncaster, Mr. George, many stories by Robert Bloch. How do you define horror fiction? Could you give us an example of what you consider to be good horror fiction? MS: A balance of gruesome and gentility. The characters have to be established so that we care about them. The horror has to be threatening from the outset, and the suspense of it sustained through the plotting structure. What makes a good book generally is the same question, as horror really has to have the same qualities as any good fiction. What was horror fiction like in the 1970s? How have you seen the genre evolve since your first publication? What is the state of current horror fiction here in the UK? The future of horror? LM: In UK much more was being published. Then too much got published, the market got saturated with some really awful stuff, the gore factor increased at the expense of story, and the market died. When it began it was really exciting with novels, collections and anthologies coming out all the time. The first Stephen King novel, The Exorcist as novel and film. Now there is a small press but even they are bringing out fewer collections. The top few writers have mainstream deals but newer authors don’t get published. In the US naturally it is a bigger market and horror has a louder voice. In the movies horror has remained constant and is currently very popular. What do you think of contemporary horror fiction? MS: There are some marvelous writers in both mainstream and small press. The mix is wide with the quiet horror seeming as popular as harder edged stories. 5) Editing and Publishing Tell us about ‘Enigmatic Press’ (1998-2000)? What did you set out to achieve? What was it like editing the first seven volumes of the ‘Darkness Rising’ anthology and the two annual volumes? The highs and lows? What advice would you give to someone wanting to edit their own publication or start their own small-press? MS: We were late to discover the small press in UK and what we really wanted to do was give a voice to the many writers out there that loved ghost stories. We tried to be as professional as possible on minimal funding, although the year we had Arts Council backing enabled us to raise the production levels. The huge number of submissions we got staggered us. That was demonstrated with the last Darkness Rising book, the 2005 annual anthology, where we received over 450 stories in two months for 20 acceptances. Darkness Rising production was too erratic to allow it to continue but the content was great. It was exciting to read and publish the first stories of writers who have now gone on to bigger things. The time demands were far too intensive though, along with the marketing, production, distribution, and costs. If anyone wants to start a small press don’t think you can write as well, you won’t have the time or energy for both. It was really good though to make contact with so many writers, editors and publishers. The friends we made then have certainly helped our profile and make the business so enjoyable. 6) Novels Your mass-market novel, ‘Shelter’, appeared from Leisure in 2006. Tell us about the novel from conception to publication. How has the book gone down in the USA? Do American readers prefer US or British settings? LM: The basic idea for Shelter was inspired by our novella Moths that led us to create the Verani. Mick went to WHC in Chicago where he pitched the idea to Don D’Auria of Leisure Books. Don liked the book when he read it and had enough faith in it to hold it for an opening in his schedule, which was July 2006. It seems to have gone down well in the US. We have received loads of positive reader feedback, which is great. It was only out two weeks and a leading screenwriter made an offer for the movie rights. From British writers US readers seem to prefer British settings. It’s about feeling the voice is right for the characters and situations. And to many Americans, English life is unknown and different. Your second novel. ‘Demoneyes’ is finished and being read, and a third novel is in progress. Could you tell us something about these novels? Are you going to concentrate fully on writing novels now? Are you both full-time writers now? MS: Certainly not full time writers yet, but we live in hope, after working for nearly forty years at other jobs. Demoneyes, is longer than Shelter, and is set in England. It concerns a supernatural species, and as with many of our stories, it deals with innocent people being threatened through no fault of their own by evil. Black Cathedral will be the longest yet, again set in the UK, and centers on revenge. We are concentrating on novels, supernatural and mystery-suspense, with an occasional short story if we are asked for one, and possibly some scripts. 7) What else can we look forward to you in the future? What are you working on now? LM: The future is far busier than the past. First off is finishing the third novel, Black Cathedral, and then completion of the two novels we have in draft at 90.000 words each. That will take us to five supernatural novels and during that time there will be promo work as well, on Demon-eyes hopefully, as well as on Shelter. After publication there may be translation rights movie options and other rights to work on. We are working with an agent now so hope we will be kept busy. MS: Were also working on three mystery-suspense novels that we have drafted at 50.000 words each. One may be the start of a US based police series, and the other two are hopefully the start of a UK based series. A new novella is due out Spring 2007 and several short stories are scheduled for publication. LM: We have several stories under review, a couple of movie discussions, and we are attending FantasyCon this year and World Horror Convention in Toronto next year. Outside the writing, there are always forum requests, interviews, and other projects to keep us busy. And all of that is outside full time jobs and family life. It never gets dull! Thanks. Tony, for the interesting interview. Len & Mick September 2006 Acknowledgements Many thanks for L.H Maynard and M.P.N Sims for all their time and help in making this interview possible. To visit Maynard and Sims online, you are welcome to drop by at: www.maynard-sims.com References The official Maynard and Sims website: www.maynard-sims.com An up-to-date bibliography of Maynard and Sims can be found at their website: www.maynard-sims.com/contents/complete credits.htm copyright Midnight Street magazine 2006 *** FALLING INTO HEAVEN A Sandy Auden Q&A With Mick Sims and Len Maynard - October 2004 Questions: How are the stories in FIH different from those in INCANTATIONS? There are fourteen stories in Falling Into Heaven, making up around 85000 words. The story lengths range from 3500 to 8000. That is different from previous collections as usually we include a novella. Incantations ranged from 1300 to 23300 words. Thematically the earlier book was quite diverse with no recognizable ebb and flow of ideas. As William Simmons said, “Several of the best stories in this collection explore ambiguities of self, emphasizing most particularly the theme of power transference between the weak and the powerful, the calculating and the naive, the living and the dead.” In Falling Into Heaven there is a thread of singular loneliness running through all the stories. Three stories feature couples in torment but the majority show a person alone, aside from society, struggling with their demons, real and imagined. Ten of the stories are original to this collection and we have done that deliberately so that the book has a freshness about it. There are a variety of activities described in the contents, from photography, to lapidary, all through a landscape of locations from Africa to Devon, and characters from possibly a witch to possibly a ghost. Being more recent stories they are possibly better written than earlier stories as we hope we grow and improve each year. Two of the published stories have gained Honourable Mentions from Ellen Datlow. Another is the subject of a film option that is extremely exciting. In total this is a much stronger book with some stories that require a second reading to fully appreciate what’s going on. Are there any similarities between the two – besides the authors appearing to be the same! Oh, the authors are definitely the same, though as people we evolve and change every year. Our writing moves forward with us. With Incantations we moved on from the ghost stories of Echoes Of Darkness, which in turn had moved away from the traditional Shadows At Midnight. The similarities are that Falling Into Heaven continues the evolution into modern settings for classical supernatural story telling that began in Incantations. Falling Into Heaven is described by the publishers as “Fourteen Tales Of Terror”. The terrors though are subtle and relentless. Insanity is shown. Reality rubs shoulders with images of nightmare. The authors some people still believe us to be can now write “Some of the reason I was so conscious of my own arousal is the physical way my body is made. My clitoris is quite pronounced, standing out quite prominently from my vulva even when I am not excited. The vaginal lips are full, not hanging down because that sounds almost ugly, but apparent. The result is that they are constantly stimulated, my underwear moving sensuously against my sex throughout the day. I have tried going out without underwear but the sense of incompleteness is too much for my ordered mind to cope with. I tried it only last month, thinking I might have progressed enough to succeed, but after about ten minutes I had to run home. The whole day was spent speaking aloud the items in all the drawers of the house.”
As well as She had few regrets in their marriage. The absence of children was one but, as she grew older, even that was beginning to fade. The miscarriages were now ancient history and she was beginning to accept the doctor’s prognosis that she would never be able to have children. It was painful at first, devastatingly painful, and difficult to deal with, and the strain it put on the marriage was intense, but gradually the pain eased, and the hormonal thrust that fuelled her desire to reproduce gradually dimmed, like a guttering candle using up the last of the oxygen in a sealed jar. Besides, she had nieces and nephews now, and her friends had children. There was plenty of opportunity to indulge the maternal side of her nature, if only by proxy – at least that’s what she told herself.” Given that these stories have been written since INCANTATIONS was released, have any aspects of your writing changed with these new stories? Any evolution going on? Evolution is gradual, naturally, and we recognize it every now and again as a welcome push and prod to keep us writing. With Falling Into Heaven the themes are deeper than before, the characters a little darker, the fields they plough a little more rutted. The stories are better constructed than before, that is a consequence of continually refining our work. We still write in the same way only more so now than before. Most stories in the book are individually written with adjustments by the other after completion. Three stories were started by one of us and finished by the other. The rest are single author with friendly accompaniment. As we wrote many of these we were also working on our first novel. Shelter has been well received by a publisher and we are hopeful of them finding a slot in their schedule for it. Evolution has taken us away from short stories for the past few months, as we have worked on another novel. Do you have any favourite stories in FIH and why have you chosen this/these particular one(s)? Through the years we have consistently failed to second-guess what people will like and dislike. Stories we love get passed over for ones we consider minor by comparison. So, we are poor judges of our own work, which is probably not unusual. Purely on a personal reason basis, Mick would plump for Sand Castles. Why? It is set in the South Hams area of Devon, which he loves. It is a story of loneliness but also of crowding in. too many people wanting too much of the character. Too many demands and a lack of focus on what is important to the central character. It was written in one sitting almost as a stream of consciousness, and tidied up afterwards. The settings and some of the scenes are based on real life. Len would go for Flour White and Spindle Thin. The story is a tragedy, brought about by one woman’s desire for something she cannot have. A child. It’s a topic close to our hearts and all the more poignant for that. The setting is resolutely bleak and barren which echoes the central theme of the story. You've covered a wide range of topics in FIH. How far would you say your stories go to showing that horror is more versatile than the gore-fest most people think it is limited to? “The source of the smoke was what was left of Felix. The white-coated eyes were open and staring, though no longer alive. The head was hanging down on the chest, the throat and neck all but severed from the torso. Blood dribbled down the chest, mingling with the pink sacks of the lungs, which had been drawn out through the jagged and broken ribcage. Neither leg possessed a foot now, but the stumps were pushed back at an excruciating angle, forcing even wider the gaping wound at the groin. The fingers of each hand were severed at irregular points, the remains crushed and weeping.” (Caviso Gamo.) We can do gore. The secret is to do so much more than gore alone. All our stories are based on classical structure – beginning, middle, end. The stories are character crafted to give an illusion of reality so that the supernatural is all the more shocking for being found in such familiar surroundings. They take their time to build an atmosphere so that the reader’s suspension of disbelief is fully engaged before the threads of normality begin to unravel. There must be a central truth to the stories to give them depth and meaning. Writing a story just gross out the reader is pretty pointless, although it is an easier option. Equally, crafting a story around a supernatural event is also a fairly glib way of going about things We write to the best of our ability. That means, to us, that we use proper words, little swearing, little slang. We try to create a picture in the reader’s mind so that they enjoy the journey with us. Too many stories have a one-track idea and the ending is predictable from the first paragraph. Life is rarely like that so why should our fiction be like that? We have been writing a long time, but we have been living, and enjoying life, far longer. Those experiences seep into the stories and hopefully give them some credence, some ring of truth. With our subject matters and themes, as well as our settings, we try to be as versatile as possible, to expand what are often seen as the boundaries of horror. END * THE GHOST ROAD A Sandy Auden Interview With Mick Sims and Len Maynard - May 2003 * ETERNAL NIGHT CHRONICLE A Q & A With Mick Sims and Len Maynard - March 2003 * TRENT WALTERS / WWW.SFSITE.COM An Interview With Mick Sims and Len Maynard - June 2002 FOR LOVE OF DARKNESS
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Discussion With L.H. Maynard & M.P.N. Sims
First published on At The World's End October 2000
Click Here An interview with L.H.Maynard & M.P.N.Sims David Price First published on the Terror Tales website 2000
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