I came across this on the Publishers Weekly web site, and it
fits in nicely with the theme of the month. They do a profile
[1] of Dan Simmons, a noted SF/horror writer:
| Despite labels engendered by publishers and marketing
departments,
| Simmons continues to write what he wants, operating on both
sides of the
| border separating mainstream from genre fiction. During his
20 years of
| writing, he has had five different publishers. "I write
across genres,
| outside of genres and in between," Simmons explains.
"Publishers like to
| establish their writer on one slide and then they want to
grease that
| slide. It makes good business sense--it just doesn't appeal
to the
| creative side of a writer. My current publisher,
HarperCollins [parent
| of Morrow], has me under contract for four novels: two of
them SF and
| two of them difficult to categorize. They did, however,
sensibly balk at
| my hard-boiled-noir-as-hell homage-to-Richard Stark novel,
Hardcase, so
| off I go in search of yet a new publisher for that book."
Written while
| he held vigil during his father-in-law's terminal illness,
Hardcase is,
| as Simmons describes it, "a whole different kettle of fish.
My goal was
| to have chapters no longer than five pages in length and a
protagonist
| so mean that no one, not even his mother, could love him."
At one point,
| the prolific author was considering publishing the book
under a
| pseudonym. But St. Martin's (which will publish it in 2001)
convinced
| Simmons's to keep his name on it.
Bill
[1]
http://www.publishersweekly.com/articles/20001106_92599.asp
-- William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ : Caveat lector.
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