SRW: Give a big ol’ Tornado Alley howdy-do to talented
fantasy and horror writer Jeff Chapman. Today we’re yonderin’ back into the
Wild West to discuss cowpoke Chapman’s chaps and new novel, The Black Blade. And it’s a hoot and a
holler, folks. Traditionally a short story writer, Jeff has spread his wings
and written some kind of novel that’ll have the folks at Gulch Holler cryin’ in
their beers and spit-takin’ their sarsaparilla.
Welcome Jeff! Tell everyone about your new book, The Black
Blade.
JC: Thanks for talking with me, Stuart. The Black Blade Is the first novel in The Huckster Tales series. Other
works in the series include a short story and a novelette. In The Black Blade, Orville and Jimmy again
find themselves over their heads in supernatural trouble. They have a habit of
finding trouble. Marzby, an old man with evil intent and magical powers,
imprisons Orville and a farmer’s wife and then sends Jimmy and the farmer on a
quest to retrieve an enchanted knife from inside Skull Hill. But there’s an
evil catch to this quest. The one who hands the blade over to Marzby selects
which prisoner to release. One knife for one prisoner. It’s not long before the
farmer aims his shotgun at Jimmy. But the trigger-happy farmer may be the least
of Jimmy’s worries. The sun is on the move and there’s a host of strange
creatures between Jimmy and the final showdown with Marzby.
SRW: Where’d the term “huckster” come from? What exactly
does it mean? And where can readers find other tales of your huckster duo,
Orville and Jimmy?
JC: A huckster is someone who travels around the country
selling stuff. Usually the value of the “stuff” is questionable. Think
snake-oil salesmen. Orville hasn’t sold snake-oil in any of the stories yet,
but if he finds he can make money from it, he most likely will. Orville’s
primary gig is operating as the turbaned soothsayer Orville the Oracular. Jimmy
provides behind-the-curtain support and looks after Maggie, their horse. Jimmy
also operates the moral compass which Orville ignores to their peril.
So far, there are three stories in The Huckster Tales
series. “The Wand” is a short story you can have for free with a newsletter
signup. “The Flaming Emerald” is a novelette available in the anthology Ghosts of Fire. And then there’s the
novel, The Black Blade. I have more
novels percolating, including an origin story explaining how Jimmy and Orville
met and a sequel to The Black Blade.
SRW: I’ve been a fan of your colorful prose for some time,
Jeff. No one can turn a purtier metaphor. But I always thought your writing
sprang forth from the past, a "Weird Tales" vibe if not older. A writer out of
time. I think you’ve hit your stride with the Huckster series set in the old
West. The perfect synthesis of place and prose. Why did you choose the old West
as your background?
JC: I didn’t intend to write a western when I wrote “The
Wand.” I thought of it as fantasy, but the characters pulled me in the western
direction. That’s where they wanted to be, so I went with it. The characters
are always right.
SRW: We’ve gotta’ talk about research. Everything about the
book, from the dialect, the dialogue, the setting, the props rings true. Jeff,
did you base this off of years watching sage dramas on the TV? Or did you
actually, you know, open a book and dig into true research (ew…what’s that?)?
Come on, just between us, there’s nobody else around…spill.
JC: I grew up watching reruns of The Lone Ranger and The
Cisco Kid. My parents loved westerns, so I saw a lot of them: the classic films
and the B-grade ones. We watched Gunsmoke. We watched F-Troop. The films and TV
shows give you a sense of the myths and feel of the genre. For the details of
daily life, I researched online and read some books. For example, I learned
that the ubiquitous cowboy hat was not the primary headgear in the Old West.
Many men wore bowlers (like Bat Masterson) or straw hats. Orville wears a
bowler while Jimmy makes do with a well-worn straw hat. I also discovered that
saloon owners sold or gave away cheap snack foods. The saltier the better. In The Black Blade, Isobel brings food for
her uncle to sell at his saloon and claims her uncle spices it with extra salt.
SRW: Jimmy’s grandmother--although I assume long dead--is
almost a Greek Chorus character throughout the book, constantly spouting wise adages,
maxims, proverbs, down home remedies, you name it. Where in the world did you come up with all of
Grandma’s sayings? Did you just wing it? Watch a lot of Oprah? Or is Grandma
based on a relative of yours?
JC: I made them up as I wrote. Grandma provides comic relief
and an entertaining way to get at Jimmy’s thoughts. She’s not based on anyone
in particular. Whenever I needed something from Grandma, I tried to imagine
what an opinionated, old farm woman would say. I suppose my rural Kansas
upbringing is paying off here. I hope readers get a good laugh out of her
sayings. I had fun writing them.
SRW: I was a little disappointed Orville dropped out
relatively early in the book as he and Jimmy make a cute comical team, right up
there with Martin and Lewis, Starsky and Hutch, and Trump and Pence. A lot of
the humor derives from their prickly relationship and Orville’s less than
scrupulous moral code. I’m curious, did you set out to instill humor in the
Huckster series? Or did it organically rise from Orville and Jimmy’s
characters?
JC: I didn’t set out to write humorous stories, but when you
have two characters trying to move events in opposite directions, humor is
often the result. The Huckster Tales are all written in the first person, from
Jimmy’s perspective. His voice has much to do with the humorous tone.
SRW: There are enough fantastical critters and varmints
running through The Black Blade to
give Ray Harryhausen nightmares. List a few. Then ‘fess up to inspirations…
JC: The first strange critter is Marzby’s pindigo. Marzby
claims he forced the spirit of a wendigo into a pig. The result is a ferocious
half-pig half-human monstrosity. A wendigo is a cannibalistic horror from
Native American folklore. Jimmy also comes across a shape-shifting opossum and a
shape-shifting coyote. Coyotes are common in Native American folklore, especially
as tricksters. I don’t think many people give opossum’s much thought. I added
the opossum as something unexpected.
In the final chapters, we meet Marzby’s servants, a pair of
oafish but incredibly strong men, at least they appear to be men. Their
skeletons are a mixture of human and cattle bones.
SRW: The tone of The
Black Blade is a little schizophrenic, but I mean that in a good way! On
the one hand, it’s a weird western. On the other hand, it’s a fantasy
adventure. On yet another hand (where are all these hands coming from?),
there’s humor, yet some violent and gruesome incidents. How would you
categorize the book?
JC: What you say in your question. I had no idea how hard it
would be to categorize the book until I finished it. I followed the story where
it led. How about a weird western fantasy adventure salted with humor?
SRW: Jeff, I’ve been after you for a long time to write a
full-length novel. You’ve written many fine novellas and short stories, but
haven’t taken the big plunge. Until now. Why? And how was your experience as
opposed to writing shorter fiction?
JC: I’ve started many novels but always bogged down in the
middle of them. With The Blake Blade,
I determined to keep moving forward and not stop. The strategy worked.
Eventually I reached the end. Now that I’ve written one novel, I’m anxious to
finish another one. I see now that a novel is like any other story, only
longer, and to finish, you have to focus on scenes, knocking off one after
another.
SRW: Truth time. I’ve given this a lot of thought, Jeff…
Seems to me it’s more than coincidence. Okay, your name’s Jeff Chapman. You
write about horse-riding cowboys in the weird west. Do you wear chaps? The
readers want the truth. And photos.
JC: Good one. No, I’ve never worn chaps, though I remember
there was a cologne called Chaps that I may have used when I was in high
school. I don’t even wear cowboy boots.
SRW: What’s up next for Jeff? (And I hope the Hucksters?)
JC: I’m writing a couple fantasy stories for anthologies. The
stories are linked by their protagonist, a cat inhabited by a human spirit. I
like cats. After I finish those stories, I’m going to finish another novel, a
fantasy story about a mermaid and a fisherman’s daughter. The cat from the
stories figures in the novel, too. After the mermaid novel, I’m hoping to be
ready for another Huckster novel.
SRW: Alright, time to rustle up the cattle and toss some
steaks on the open-fire and zip up for the night, padnuhs. Jeff, why don’t you
sing us out—Roy Rogers style—by tellin’ the good folk on the prairie where they
might find yore pistol-packin’ work.
SRW: Read Jeff Chapman’s The
Black Blade, folks. Highly recommended and more fun than a pistol-packin’
bandolero.
