Gordon Dymowski interview
Welcome to Ralph’s rants. Today we have Gordon Dymowski
joining us, hello and how are you, Gordon?
Pretty good – really
looking forward to talking!
Glad to hear it then, let’s get right into it, why don’t you tell my readers a
little bit about yourself?
By day, I’m a freelance marketing
consultant for nonprofits, social enterprise, and small businesses. I also
write for I Hear of Sherlock (a Sherlock Holmes blog) and
Chicago Now. Co-host the Zone 4 podcast, run a Doctor Who Meetup group, and…well, basically
try to avoid being a “real” adult, whatever that
is.
How many pieces (Stories, Novels etc.,) have you had
published?
For Airship 27, I’ve been published
in Legends of New Pulp (‘Pather) and Black Bat Mystery Volume 3 (The
Magnificent Anderson). For Pro Se
Productions, my stories have appeared in Tall
Pulp (Crossing McCausland) and Moose
& Skwirl (All Roads Lead to Rome). And I’ve had one story published in
Space Buggy Press’ Dreamers Syndrome: New
World Navigation (When Angels Fall), and got my start in the Les Vamps anthology (Out There In the
Night).
What genre do you write in? Adventure fiction or new pulp as
it is commonly known?
I would definitely
consider myself a “New Pulp” writer, and my focus is on more mystery/thriller
oriented writing.
What is your favorite published piece that you have out
there?
In all honesty, “When
Angels Fall” (Dreamer’s Syndrome: New
World Navigation) is the one I’m proudest of….and not just because it was
nominated for a Pulp Factory Award.
It’s a private eye
tale, and I love detective stories. It’s where Lovecraft, Chandler, and John
Milton have a massive jam session. Plus, there’s a heroin addict turned cartoon
bear.
(And for those of you
reading….that last statement makes perfect
sense once you’ve read the story)
But it’s the first
story where I felt I found my “voice”, to use a writer’s cliché – it was the
first time that a story came out the way it sounded in my head.
What authors inspire you to write?
When I was a child,
two series made me want to write: Bantam’s Doc
Savage reprints…and The Three
Investigators. (Hey, don’t scoff – early books featured Alfred Hitchcock as
a lead character, and those were as close to pulp as a ten year old could get
in those days. Mock me at your peril!)
In my college days, I
was inspired by Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane and Robert B. Parker. In
fact, their styles seemed easy to emulate, so I tried writing like them.
As a result, I
acquired a large collection of rejection slips. Their style of writing isn’t that easy, which is why it’s so
good. But they were the guys who struck some chord that made me think, “Yeah, I
can do this.”
Keeping with the same train of thought, who are the biggest
influences on your writing?
Do you have a few
hours? Let’s see…..Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novels. Chandler. Sara Paretsky.
Mickey Spillane. Jim Thompson. James Robinson’s Starman. Matt Wagner’s Sandman
Mystery Theater. Charles Beaumont. Elmore Leonard. Piri Thomas’ Down These Mean Streets. Robert Holmes (considered the Doctor Who writer of the
classic era). Paul Ernst (especially his Avenger
novels). Richard Stark’s Parker novels.
Way, way too many influences to mention….
What era is your favorite to write in?
This may sound like a
complete non-sequitur, but Westerns. Wrote a story for a Pro Se anthology (read
on for more details), but I really loved
the challenge of writing a Western
And the whole World
War Two era (mid-1930s to late 1940s) fascinates me – perhaps it was because
both of my grandfathers served in that war (my mother’s dad was a medic in the
Phillipines, my father’s dad was artillery in Persia), but there’s something
about that era that really resonates
with me.
Do you have a favorite character to write?
That’s easy: The
Black Bat. Loved writing a currently-unpublished comic script, and had a blast
writing him for Airship 27. Yes, everyone, Black
Bat Mystery Volume 3 features the Black Bat/Orson Welles showdown you were
looking for!
OK, so maybe you
weren’t, but it’s a darn good story nonetheless.
I’m also eager to
revisit two of my own characters: Screenwriter-turned-PI John Brant from Mark
Bousquet’s Dreamer’s Syndrome: New World Navigation, and Natan Bodaway,
the Martian colony lawman from Legends of New Pulp (‘Pather). In fact, I
have a story idea involving Bodaway that’s kind of crazy….but is just so
pulp.
What do you have coming up for release next? Tell us a
little about it?
Right now, just
finished a short story for Sean Taylor’s It’s
Been A Long Time anthology, featuring noir stories inspired by classic
songs. I’m also writing a four-issue series for Last Ember Press called The Crimson Badge which – believe it or
not – is not a Western…but it is pulp.
What do you have scheduled for release the rest of the year?
Let’s look at what’s
in the pipeline: have one story in process for Airship 27. (Trust me, it’s
worth not spoiling). For Pro Se, I have stories coming up for Hollywood
Detective, Pulpternative, and some other anthologies that I can’t discuss.
(Trust me, it’s good
news).
Is there anything else you would like my readers to know
about Gordon Dymowski?
Some people often
confuse me for Tommy Hancock. One way to tell us apart: Tommy’s much
younger...and much slimmer.
Also, please feel
free to give my work a try – all of my books feature great stories by some
great writers, so you’ll definitely find something worth enjoying!
Gordon, feel free to post links to your blog, your books,
your web page etc. Whatever you might like.
Sure – readers can
check out my personal blog, Blog THIS, Pal!, at http://blogthispal.blogspot.com. You can check out my writing via Amazon
at http://bit.ly/GdymAuthor, and follow my Facebook author page at http://www.facebook.com/gordonrdymowski. People should check out I Hear of
Sherlock (http://www.ihearofsherlock.com) and Chicago Now’s One Cause At A Time (http://www.facebook.com/OneCauseAtATimeCNow).
Links to all of these can be found via http://www.gordondymowski.com
Thanks for joining us here today Gordon, it’s been a real
pleasure having you here. Take care and have a great day!
You, too – it’s been
a blast!
As always all of my own books are available at http://RLAngeloJr.com or http://tinyurl.com/ralphsamazon
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