by Rebecca Forster
I love to read. Books, newspapers, magazines and food labels
are all on my TBR list. Horror has been in the mix with popular authors like
Stephen King and Dean Koontz, but I didn’t know what a great horror read was
until I read a short story collection by Anoynmous-9 (aka Elaine Ash) presented
under the umbrella title of Hard Bite & Other Short Stories. Here was horror at its finest: edgy,
scary, fascinating, the stuff bad dreams are made of. While I celebrated the
book, I also lamented that this author might never be embraced by the
mainstream despite her talent. Why? Because Anyonymous-9 is what I call an X-treme
novelist - a writer who does not poke at parameters, but boldly shreds them. Think
Tom Wolfe’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and
his brand of hysterical realism. Hunter S. Thompson and Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas. My favorite, Anthony Burgess’ Clockwork Orange. The X-treme novelist is
often ignored, ridiculed, or, even worse, published only to languish in a no-man’s
land of genreless books.
Yet when a reader discovers them - or they become bestsellers
in spite of the system – there is a sense of uncovering a jewel. They keep us
thinking and questioning and curious about what they will come up with next. If
their work is done well, their sense of time and place, characterization and
plot will challenge the reader in a way traditional novels never do; if crafted
poorly, their work is merely sensationalism without direction. The challenge for the X-treme novelist
is to direct themselves without editorial help or an agent cheerleader because
their vision is uniquely their own.
Some of my favorite, recently-read indie works by those I consider X-treme novelists include:
Hard
Bite & Other Stories* by Anonymous-9: A viscious, bloody, twisted tale
that left me fascinated because of the author’s complete faith in the vision of
her characters and their motivation. I applaud the sheer inventiveness of the
world she created.
Johnny Oops
by Arthur Levine: A fanciful tale of a teenager who believes himself to be a prophet.
It is a sexual, angst filled romp that is told with an unapologetic abandon and
marvelous style.
Detroit Daze by Conrad
Johnson**: A hard, brutal, desperate tale of a teenager’s life in Detroit that
seems to lead to the same nowhere the teenager believes is his destiny. Johnson’s deft communication of
humanity within this harsh world, his use of music lyrics, is like poetic
graffiti.
The
Santa Shop by Tim Greaton: An unsettling, emotionally wrenching story that
has little to do with jingle bells and everything to do with despair, self
recrimination, and redemption. It is so well written I was actually angry that
the book was not what I assumed it would be and then grateful that it was not.
X-treme authors are not pioneers; they are explorers. They
are not dreamers; they are trippers.
X-treme novelists are vital to the creative
process. It is usually through their efforts that new genres are born and
fashions are created. Sometimes we just forget those fashions began with writers
willing to put themselves on the line with something new, fresh, and often
delightedly unsettling. If you are
one, embrace what you do because there are readers like me who will appreciate
it and writers (like me) who will be inspired by it.
*Also look for Hard Bite the Novel.
**Conrad Johnson is the pseudonym for John Byk. Check out
his live contemporary author interviews on 2012 Writers Alive
