Exposed!: an interview with Mike Heffernan
by Mark Brand, Associate Editor

interview conducted by email, 19 February 2007

Mark Brand: First up, I've always been fascinated with short story collections because they have the ability to contain a large chronological spread of the author's work all at once. The stories in Exposed! felt as though they were all written within weeks of each other, which is a good thing in terms of keeping their quality consistent. What was the oldest story in this collection (by that I mean the one you started/finished first), and what was the most recent?

Mike Heffernan: Exposed! was written over roughly two years. Where my head was at while writing the stories is as clear as day, but the timeline is a little vague. It was a period of my life that was often chaotic, but surprisingly productive, fueled by coffee, insomnia and determination. I threw all my energy into writing, forming something of tunnel vision, and banging out stories like a factory, regardless of the quality. I came out the other side a much better writer, I think. You force yourself to get better, by repetition. But if I'm to put a timeline on them, I'd have to say that "Starved to Death" was the first, and "The Last Highwayman," which started me off on another post-apocalyptic kick, was the last.

MB: Now that we've cleared that up, which story of the collection took the longest to iron out? They all seem fairly straightforward and polished in the finished product, which can be vexing to authors like myself who find their own work a very hit-or-miss adventure. Did any of these give you a thorn in your side?

MH: For me, with the exception of a few, every story was a hurdle. All writers have their own distinct methods, but I just believe that if something doesn't work, fix it later. I usually go through a half-dozen drafts before something is fit for public consumption.

But my last few pieces, ghost stories which are very surreal and diffuse, have gone in much different directions, causing all sorts of unexpected problems.

MB: It's no secret that you've been working on Exposed! in tandem with A Dark and Deadly Valley and Aim For The Head for some time now. I also understand that you style yourself an editor, and with three books in the air for a number of years, much of which you compiled from an impressive array of authors, you must feel like you've earned your stripes in that regard. Tell me a little about your adventures in making these three books happen.

MH: My literary heroes growing up were guys like John Skipp and Charles Grant and Dave Schow, and they still are. I loved how they could juggle both editing and writing; they made it look so effortless. When I finished grad school, I had some vague game plan in my head whereby I wanted to accomplish some small measure of what they had done. Aim For The Head was my initial push towards this.

At the time, Brian Keene was front and centre of the horror publishing industry, zombie films were bigger than ever, bigger than even the 1980s, but there just wasn't a zombie anthology comparable to Skipp and Spector's landmark Book of the Dead, an omnibus-style book that hit all the zombie bases. I gathered together genre vets, enthusiastic young talent, and a few classic reprints, and did what I could to make it all seem as fresh as possible. What comes out at the end, I hope, will please the readers.

Aim For The Head was my first time around, so I'd obviously love another kick at the proverbial can, but it got my name bandied about with some modicum of respect attached to it. And I learned a lot about this gnarly beast known as the publishing industry.

My next foray into editing, A Dark and Deadly Valley, has been banging around in my head for quite some time. I'm a historian by trade, and with horror also occupying such a major part of my life, it was only a matter of time before those two parallel lines intersected. I wanted to tackle the violence of war and its lasting impact. Horror doesn't have the same blinders as academia, which can be crippled by politics and personal agendas. I'm was in no way detailing history or reshaping the past with words, but I wanted to see where our best authors could take it. To be honest, I was surprised it hadn't been done before; maybe that's how I got so many wonderful writers aboard.

I have two other projects in the works, Nation of Ash, a shared world post-nuke anthology, which begs the question, "What are the consequences?", and an all-Atlantic Canadian collection of dark and grim fiction that'll tackle issues of poverty, crime, cultural disintegration and forced migration.

But have I earned my stripes? I'm not sure. So long as my contributors respect what I'm doing and readers enjoy the books I put together, I'm ecstatic. But I also want my anthologies to be seen as a serious form of horror literature, not just disposable pulp-fiction. I want to say something with them; these aren't just "collections."

MB: I noticed on your Blog that you were interviewed by Ex/press, and you made mention of starting your own publishing house called Hard Ticket Press. As someone that considers himself first and foremost a fan of speculative and horror fiction, what made you decide to take the leap into the business end of producing it? As someone like Paul Hughes can tell you, there is an enormous difference between knowing that path and walking it. What do you have in store for the spec-fi world that will make Hard Ticket Press something that will take its place alongside the other independent houses in the mud-slogging fest that is indie publishing?

MH: Newfoundland fiction is at the top of Canadian literature right now. Our authors are amongst the best in the country. Writers like Ken Harvey, Michael Crummey and Lisa Moore lead the way. And there's a whole new generation of talent coming along.

The problem I saw is that there were simply no avenues for Newfoundland writers to take serious risks. I wanted to change that. I'm not interested in straight horror, that's for the imprint, Black Harbor Books, which will start with Cody Goodfellow's debut collection. Stuff that tackles topics that we, as a people, like to leave out by the door is sure to pique my interest. But there'll be a distinct provincial flavor to our books which builds upon our strong oral and folk traditions.

And with all the hoopla surrounding Atlantic Canada as the new epicenter of Canadian literature, the government has jumped on the bandwagon and is now offering major financial support for local publishers. I hope to take advantage.

MB: It was clear to me as I read Exposed! that you had a very specific feel in mind for the book. The stories flow by at a certain pace, they have a certain tone, and the reader is not meant to miss the significance of it. I wouldn't go quite so far as to say the book was "targeted", but others might think so. Even the look is structured carefully. Personally, the book itself just screams horror-fanboy to me. It was bound to eventually get to this one way or the other, but who or what is responsible for that cover?

MH: Sure, all my books are structured meticulously. I'm very particular. And there's a reason for that. I've always felt that fiction, especially genre books, is sold on the basis of their graphic design, name, and then the quality of the writing. Too many small press books look cheap and haphazardly thrown together, which hurts sales.

And I want my books to be a holistic experience for the reader. Everything about A Dark and Deadly Valley had to say "pulp-weird war tales," and the graphic design was a major part of that. With Exposed!, the color scheme and front cover make the message obvious: I'm trying to peel away the scum of our society and put the rotten insides on full display.

Darren Whalen is the artist and designer. We work very closely together. In fact, he's the other half of Hard Ticket Press. We've been working together for four years now, been friends since middle-school, so this is a natural progression for us. Darren is also doing the interior illustrations for Aim For The Head, which will be released form Overlook Connection this coming October.

[Return to Feature.]

link to silverthought.com

LIMITED EDITION featuring all new horror fiction from acclaimed writers Mort Castle, Brian Keene, Rick Hautala, Brian Hodge, and many others.
A Dark and Deadly Valley
edited by Mike Heffernan

Introduction by John Skipp
llustrated by Alex McVey
Cover art by Darren Whalen
Publisher: Silverthought Press
ISBN-10: 0-9774110-8-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-9774110-8-5
380 pages
limited edition: 600 copies
signed by Mike Heffernan, Alex McVey, and Darren Whalen
hardcover cloth: $39.99 + S/H

[Click for details.]

a horror anthology
Exposed!
by Mike Heffernan

Introduction by John Everson
Cover art by Darren Whalen
Publisher: Silverthought Press
ISBN-10: 0-9774110-9-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-9774110-9-2
180 pages
paperback: $12.95 + S/H

[Click for details.]